


Four Long Years

by Little_Italian_Boy



Category: Spies Are Forever - Talkfine/Tin Can Brothers
Genre: Canon is barely there, Chimera is here but Owen isn't involved, Curt Mega is a father and how did that happen, Cynthia Houston is tired of all this, Getting Back Together, M/M, Owen Carvour & The Deadliest Man Alive Are Different People, Owen Carvour is a bit of a jerk, Owen and Curt are both trying to work through their feelings, Owen does not know how to interact with children, Safehouses, Tatiana/Barb is there if you squint
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2020-05-14 14:59:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 31,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19275670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Italian_Boy/pseuds/Little_Italian_Boy
Summary: Four years after a bad breakup, Owen Carvour and Curt Mega are brought back together again, and find that a lot has changed for both of them.





	1. I Can't Believe You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Owen Carvour and Curt Mega go on a mission but things don't go as planned.

Owen Carvour was currently laying on Curt Mega’s chest. It was moments like these when Owen loved Curt the most, he was quiet. Not that Curt didn’t have anything important to say, just most of it was bullshit. Owen turned his head to look at his lover, who looked ready to fall asleep.

“Love, we do have a mission tonight.”

Curt grumbled. “Details, details…”

Owen slapped him. “Seriously, wake up, Mega!”

Curt sat up. “Way to kill the mood, Carvour.”

Owen got up. “We have a job to do, go shower.”

Curt made a noise of complaint but complied. While Curt was showering, Owen decided to get ready and check their bags for the mission. Owen noticed something was missing just as Curt got out of the shower.

“Curt, where’s the skeleton key Barb made for this mission?”

Curt didn’t even bother to look away from the mirror. “Did you check my luggage?”

Owen sighed. “Yes I checked your luggage! It’s not there, now stop touching your bloody hair and help me find it.”

Curt pulled himself away from the mirror and shifted through his luggage. “Huh, guess I didn’t pack it.” Owen would have murdered Curt long ago if he wasn’t so charming.

“Then how are we supposed to get the files, Mega?”

Curt waved Owen off as he put on clothes. “Old school, it’ll take like what, five extra seconds? Stop being so pissy, Carvour. You sound like Cynthia.”

“I wonder why…”

Owen checked their bags one last time. He supposed that Curt wasn’t wrong, they were two of the greatest spies, in theory. Lately, Curt’s recklessness had been getting worse and worse, it was going to bite them in the ass soon. Owen just hoped that it wasn’t his.

“You ready, Mega?”

Curt grabbed one of the bags and checked his gun. “Locked and loaded.”

Owen nodded. “Alright, old boy.”

\----------------

Owen studied the building. It was a tall slab of concrete in the middle of nowhere, Owen had seen hundreds of them in his line of work. There were three guards stationed in the front and over 20 inside. Add that with the Cold War going on, and they really couldn’t fuck this up.

“What’s the plan, Curt?”

Curt looked at Owen. “I assume you aren’t asking for suggestions and are instead checking to see if I remember?”

“Curt, you know how many people get hurt if we mess this up-”

Curt rubbed his temple. “Yes Mom, I’m well aware. We get in, get pictures of the blueprints, get out.”

“Remember, the less people who see us, the better.”

“Last time I checked, you weren’t my superior, so stop acting like it.” With that Curt got out of the car. Owen supposed that it wasn’t a good idea to piss off an agent who was about to be in the line of fire.

Owen followed Curt out of the car and crept in the darkness. He looked ahead and saw that Curt was already in the middle of incapacitating all three guards. Owen mentally scolded himself. He sometimes forgot how hot-headed Curt could be. Owen ran to catch up with Curt just as he finished the job.

“Didn’t want to wait for me, _love_?”

Curt glared. “They’re gone, aren’t they?”

“I guess so.”

Curt helped Owen up to the window. Owen popped out the glass and slid in. He was somewhere on the second story. He quickly and quietly knocked out the only guard by him and dropped the rope down to Curt. Curt climbed up and took a quick look around. He seemed to notice the amount of guards scattered around.

“Office is on the fourth floor?”, Curt checked.

Owen nodded. “I’ll take the left, you take the right?”

Curt nodded and took off. Owen snuck along the left hallway and slowly took out the guards. Tranquilizer dart here, elbow to the head there, standard stuff. Owen made sure that he caught each guard before they fell to the floor. Curt on the other hand, seemed to be treating this like a run and gun. Owen shook his head and kept going. He knew Curt’s body had adrenaline pumping through it. Owen liked to think he knew a lot about how Curt worked on missions. It was his job, as a spy and as Curt’s lover. If he didn’t know what his partner was going to do, he was screwed.

Owen made it up to the office where Curt was already waiting.

Curt smirked. “You getting old?”

Owen rolled his eyes. “No, I’m just wiser.”

Curt waved him off. “It’s fine, the lock please?”

Owen nodded and started picking the lock. Curt moved to the side in order to neutralize the alarm. Owen picked the lock and opened the door. Curt quickly shot the alarm and shuffled in.

Owen stayed outside to watch. “Top file, love.”

Owen was about to sigh in relief when suddenly the door shut.

He turned to the door and leaned against it. “Curt, Curt!”

Owen heard the thundering of footsteps and turned around. All the remaining guards were heading towards him, and he couldn’t open the bloody door again because that would take too long and give away Curt, he was fucked. Hopefully, Curt would help him out.

“Can I help you boys?”

Owen’s statement was met with a fist to the face. Owen should have known that these guys were just pure muscle. He attempted to fight back but was immediately pinned down. He got the ever-loving shit beat out of him for the next five minutes. Owen couldn’t believe that Curt would leave him out to dry like this. So much for partners. The guards must have gotten bored because he was currently being raised up.

The next thing he knew, he was getting thrown to the floor, but the drop felt a lot shorter than it should have been. Everything seemed to be catching up to him, Owen felt like he was about to pass out. He heard a couple thumps and then Curt’s voice.

“Owen, Owe-” Then, everything went black.

\-----------

Owen woke up to a stark white room. He heard a beeping behind him, a hospital, he guessed. Owen sat up. Everything hurt, he probably would be out of the field for a bit.

“Owen, you’re awake!”

Curt was sitting next to his bed in the same clothes from the mission. Honestly, he kind of looked like shit, but Owen knew that he looked worse.

“Where are we…”

“Back in your territory, I brought you straight here after calling Cynthia.”

Of course, Curt couldn’t even bother to worry about him until after he kissed Cynthia’s ass. Then again, he let Owen almost die in order to not get in trouble.

Curt had been talking for a bit, but Owen hadn’t been paying attention. “But don’t worry, I sent the pictures to your superiors t-”

“Mega, get out.”

Curt looked up. “W-what?”

“We’re done. I’m so pissed at you, I can barely even look at you.”

Curt leaned forward. “Owen, I’m sorry I didn’t help you sooner but-”

Owen huffed. “It’s not even just this mission! You have been pulling more and more dumb stunts for awhile now! France, Dubai, any of those ring a bell? I don’t know if your ego just got to big for you or if you forgot how dangerous our line of work is, but I’m done being your nanny. If I stick around, you’re going to get me killed.”

Curt softened. “I would never let you die…”

“Well you almost did...now get out. When I return to the field, I’m requesting a new partner. I don’t ever want to hear from you again.”

Curt stood up. “Fine, you’ve been acting like a prick for months now. I didn’t ask for a nanny, and yet you assumed I needed one. I’ll find a new partner, one who can get off my ass.” With that, Curt left.

Owen leaned back and sighed. This was for the best, for both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry everything is wonky right now. Huge thanks to everyone who read this and I hope you enjoyed it.


	2. I Am Not Thinking About Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four years later and Owen's back at the American Secret Service and definitely over Curt Mega.

Owen had been avoiding the American Secret Service like the plague for the past four years. Shortly after Curt left, somebody from MI6 came to check on him and Owen had informed them that he could no longer effectively work with Agent Curt Mega. Thankfully, Owen’s status led people to trust his judgement, so arrangements were made. Three months later, and Owen was back on the field. He will admit, it felt different. Empty, almost, without Curt’s presence. The man’s personality was larger than life. Of course Owen had other partners, usually fellow MI6 agents, but none of them seemed to stick. Not that he was looking for another romantic partner, that had been stupid, rash, and rather messy. Just, the spy business is a lonely one, and Owen missed having a stable constant in his life, well stable isn’t the right word. Regardless, Owen hadn’t actively thought about Curt Mega for some time now, but of course his superior had to ruin that.

“Carvour, please stop gaping like a fish and get ready to go to America.”

Owen shut his mouth and tried to keep his face emotionless. “Sir, I’m just...confused. I haven’t gone in so long, why now?”

His superior turned to him with an expression of exhaustion painted on him. It was evident from his balding head to the bags underneath his blue eyes. Not that it was Owen’s business, but he looked like he had lost weight from long nights of working without eating. Generally he was kind to Owen, certainly nicer than a certain Ms. Houston, so he felt bad about causing any added turmoil. Going to the United States was still out of the question.

Owen’s superior sighed before responding. “Well yes, you saw to that, Mr. Carvour. Don’t think that I haven’t noticed that you’ve been finding ways to weasel out of missions there for years. I’ve allowed it, because I assume it’s hopefully in good taste, but this mission is inevitable. It’s too damn important. So unless you have some reason why our best spy isn’t competent enough for this, then I suggest you head out.”

Well, he did have Owen there. He couldn’t just explain how he didn’t want to go because he use to screw their top agent before that agent ended up stabbing him in the back. Instead, Owen swallowed any remaining dignity or pride and gave his superior a response.

“Not a single one, sir. I’ll go get ready.”  
\-----------------------------  
Owen then proceeded to spend the whole plane ride thinking about Curt. It was unhealthy, but Owen had picked up worse habits. He didn’t know if he could stand to see Curt again, despite being the one to breakup with him, it still hurt. There was no reason Owen had to see Curt during this mission. Then again, this was supposedly a very important mission. Why wouldn’t the American Secret Service use their best agent? Although Owen did say Curt and him working together was problematic, so wouldn’t the best choice be to use a different agent? Owen wanted to sip some whiskey to calm his nerves, but there was no way in hell he was going to face Cynthia Houston with any alcohol in his system.

Owen got off the plane and made his way to their headquarters. Everything was the same as it once was, he was sure that not a single cent was used towards fixing the place up. The budget usually went towards weapons and covering for those weapons. The halls seemed pretty empty, actually. Any spies in the building seemed to be running from point a to b, even the techies seemed stressed. No wonder they had needed MI6’s help. Owen finally made his way to Cynthia’s office and paused. Before knocking on the mahogany door, he made sure to straighten himself up. Two things he had learned, thanks to Curt’s errors, were that you never just walk straight in and never walk in looking like anything less than perfection. After feeling like he was presentable, Owen knocked. The sound of chatter silenced from the other side, probably Cynthia on the phone, and Susan wordlessly opened the door. Susan gestured for Owen to come in and Owen gave him a small nod in return. 

Cynthia’s office looked the same, except there were more papers than ever cluttering her desk. Judging by the ashtray and smoke in the air, Cynthia hadn’t been able to kick her nasty habit either. Cynthia herself looked unchanged, maybe a few more grays but she looked more intimidating than ever.

Cynthia smiled as she locked eyes with him. “I’ve missed your face, Carvour. Next time you get pissed at one of my agents, don’t take it out on me, alright?”

Owen nodded. “Of course, Cynthia. Just-” 

Cynthia held up a finger to silence him. “Now, as your superior probably told you, this mission is very, very important. Normally, I would pair you up with someone else, but due to unfortunate circumstances-”

Owen made the dumb mistake to cut Cynthia off. “It’s Curt, isn’t it?”

Owen knew he had really fucked up when he heard Susan gulp from the corner. Cynthia was clearly trying not to explode at him, he was always her favorite, but she was having a hard time. “Carvour, I will let that slide because you haven’t been here in a really long time, but we do not say that name around here. Not after that fucking dumb-dumb left me without one of my best agents.”

“Wait, Me-”, Owen stopped after he saw the look Susan gave him, “I mean, _he_ , died!?”

Cynthia leaned against her desk and sighed. “No, but he’s as good as dead. Obviously he’s still property of the United States of America, but he hasn’t been on the field in three years.”

The narcissistic side of Owen wanted to believe that it was because of the breakup, that it had that big of an impact on Curt. Realistically though, the timing didn’t line up, so Curt had probably just gotten bored. Owen just nodded and allowed Cynthia to continue.

“Besides, you had requested to never work with him again, and I don’t blame you. Anyways, as you could probably tell, we’re a little short on spies, so we have to stick you with a newbie. He’s not as strong as your previous partner, but he’s a hell of a lot smarter. We got word of a weapon that could threaten anyone who doesn’t have it, especially during this Cold War. I need you and the newbie to go in and blow it up.”

Susan handed Owen a case file and he skimmed through it. “What kind of weapon is it exactly?”

“That’s the problem, we have no fucking clue. All we know is that it’ll be catastrophic if it isn’t destroyed.”

Owen took one last look at the file and shut it. “You can count on me, love.”

Cynthia nodded. “I better be.”

\-----------------

Cynthia hadn’t been joking when she said that this agent wasn’t strong. Fletcher Adams was scrawny, blond, and had hazel eyes. Add that with his constant fidgeting, and he was the farthest thing from Owen’s type. Owen had always hated when Curt fidgeted before missions, it always made Owen nervous... he really had to stop thinking about Curt. This was the kid’s first big mission, and the fact that this one was as important as it was, made him freak out even more. The kid kept asking Owen if they were going to die and in order for Owen to get any peace and quiet, he reassured him that this mission would be a breeze. It was something he used to tell Curt, maybe that’s why his ego got so big. Before Owen knew it, they were there. Owen made sure to remind Fletcher of their job; not to see the weapon, but to merely destroy it.

“Should we go in together?”, Fletcher asked.

The question caught Owen off guard. “Hmm?”

“Y'know, like burst through the door together.” The good spy in Owen said yes, but the action reminded him too much of Curt. Besides, the mission didn’t require that, that was just the easiest way.

“No, I think it’s better if I go through the front and you sneak in from the top. That way, when they only think that there’s one spy, we surprise them with two.” It seemed like the kid wanted to disagree, but his training was stopping him.

“Of course.” Fletcher ran off to get on top of the building while Owen got ready to burst in through the front. It was definitely foolish to take on this many guards alone, but Owen liked to think he had been through worse.

Getting into the building was easy enough, Owen just used one of the new grenades Barb had made and Owen had an easy pathway into the building. Of course, using the grenade alerted others of his presence, but he was being smart about it, he was being so smart about it. Owen thought he might actually pull this off, till he was met with a man who had a strange accent and blue eyes.

“Owen Carvour, never thought I would get the pleasure after you and Mr. Mega broke things off.” Owen was stunned, how did this man know his name, let alone that Curt and him-he couldn’t have known they were dating, could he? Owen was extremely careful and so was Curt, for once. The man must have gotten the response he wanted, because he started grinning and coming closer to Owen. Before he could cause any harm, Fletcher dropped down and landed on top of him.

Fletcher looked up at him. “Are you ok, Carvour?”

Owen was still getting over his shock. “H-he knows things. He knows things that not even your agency knows…” Fletcher looked down at the man, clearly mulling over the implications. Before either spy could do anything, reinforcements entered the building.

Fletcher got off the man and grabbed Owen’s arm. “We need to go, now!” Owen agreed and started running with Fletcher, both threw explosives to keep the guards off their tail. Once they reached the car, Fletcher stepped on the gas and Owen tried to comprehend everything in to a neat little list. One, there was somebody with a really dangerous weapon who knew Owen’s name. Two, that man also knew Curt’s name. Three, the man possibly knew that Curt and him used to date. Four, that man still had a highly destructive weapon. Five, Owen Carvour was fucked.

\---------  
Cynthia apparently shared the sentiment. “Carvour, I haven’t had a headache this big since… since Curt fucking Mega was one of my agents! I was going to blame the newbie, but based on his story, this was all your fucking fault. Of course, him knowing your name and information leads to new headaches related to breaches, but for now we need to get you somewhere safe.”

“Where might that be…”

Cynthia sighed. “Normally wherever your agency thought was best, but we can’t even risk you going home. The American Secret Service has a number of retired agents who take spies into their homes. I found one that I think will accommodate you the best, plus it’s our most hidden one, the retired agent requested it.”

Owen nodded. “Any idea when I’ll be able to head home?”

“Whenever this shit storm blows over. There’s a car waiting for you out front. I recommend you hone your spy skills during this vacation.” 

Owen nodded and left. This was the farthest possible thing from a vacation but at least he was safe. As Owen got in the car, he couldn’t help but realize what a Curt move this was. At least Curt had never had to go stay with a retired agent who wasn’t even on his home soil. Hopefully, this whole thing would be over soon and Owen could go home and return to not thinking about Curt Mega. Hopefully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Curt will be in the next chapter. Sorry for all the editing going on right now, I'm still getting use to this site. Hope y'all enjoy this and thanks for sticking around to chapter two.


	3. This Has Been a Tragic and Horrible Flop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Owen goes to his new temporary home and finds a familiar face.

Owen had been in this car for hours and his legs were killing him. Curt’s old jokes about him being a giraffe weren’t far off, he was all leg. To make things worse, the view was crappy. It consisted of a whole lot of nothing; empty field, side of a mountain, empty field, and wash and repeat. Owen soon realized that Cynthia hadn’t been lying when she told him that this agent wanted to be far off the map, not that she had ever been known to be a liar. So, Owen was subjected to bad views, leg cramps, and only one whole pee break. He tried to sleep, he really did, but after spying for so many years, sleep didn’t come easily. Trying to find every single flaw in his plan on that last mission was also futile, there were too many to be helpful. That left Owen with just thinking about nothing in particular, a game that got very dangerous, very fast. Ideas would bounce around until they morphed into violent fantasies. Ones that involved hurting Curt, hurting his superior-hell, even hurting the whole spy industry. Intrusive thoughts were a pain as is, Owen felt as if his fucked up brain made them worse. After what seemed like ages, the brick wall of a guard in the front seat announced that they were there.

It was a simple country house, the building would almost look quaint with its yellow exterior and cacti, except there was a high security fence all around the property. Owen wouldn’t exactly call it subtle, but he imagined that it was isolated enough that most would get bored before reaching the house. The process for opening the only entryway in the fence was so complicated that Owen couldn’t follow it if he wanted to, the other guard made sure he didn’t even get the chance.

Owen chuckled as he grabbed his bag. “Don’t want me running away?”

The smaller guard snorted. “Hardly, we take the protection of retired agents seriously, we don’t need you getting them killed.”

Owen shrugged. “Well, I guess that’s fair.” It still stung though. 

Owen walked up to the front door and took a deep breath. If he thought the car ride was bad, this would be loads worse. For all he knew, he could end up stuck here for years. Regardless, it was far too late to undo what had been done. Owen started doing the incredibly complicated knock; a short knock, long knock, pause, two long knocks, short knock, pause, short knock, pause, long knock, short knock, pause, long knock, long pause, and three last long knocks. Owen heard noises from the other side of the door and sighed in relief, he would have lost it if he had to redo it. When Owen saw who opened the door, then he really lost it. There stood Curt Mega, in all his glory, and he was apparently just as shocked as Owen.

“H-how are you here? Why are you here?”, Curt stammered.

“You grew a beard.” Probably wasn’t the best statement to lead with, but he didn’t want Curt to see how much this was affecting him. Besides, it was true. Despite Curt always being the advocate for “true gentlemen have clean faces”, he currently had what looked like roadkill growing out of his face. 

Curt ignored him and turned to the guards a few yards behind Owen. “He isn’t my new spy, is he? He’s MI6, aka not our problem!”

Typical Curt. “I’m hurt Mega, you’re killing me here.”

The taller guard shrugged. “He caused a problem in the US that was so big that it isn’t even safe for him to return. So Cynthia stuck him with you.”

Curt rolled his eyes and mumbled something that sounded a lot like “dammit Cynthia” under his breath. He finally turned to Owen. “You causing a shit show, that doesn’t sound like the Owen I know.”

Owen eyed Curt. “Yes well, clearly a lot can change in four years.”

Curt crossed his arms over his chest defensively. “Just get inside, I assume you two need to do your inspection.” The guards nodded and followed Curt and Owen inside.

Owen looked around the foyer. It seemed standard issue, if one could ignore the lack of paintings and security measures adorning the white walls. Owen got a feeling just from this foyer that the whole house lacked personality, it would make a terrible cover house. Plus, every section of the house seemed to have doors sectioning them off. From a security standpoint, that made sense. It appeared that the whole house had tile flooring, he figured that the decision was made because it was easier to clean blood off of tile than carpet. Despite his surroundings, Curt seemed bored, Owen would probably be bored too if his house was constantly checked every few months. Finally, the guards gave Curt his orders, told Owen to avoid stepping outside, and left. Leaving two ex-boyfriend spies trained to kill, alone.

Curt turned to Owen and sighed. “I suppose you want the tour.”

“Well if I’m going to be stuck here for awhile. Besides, I’m sure both of us want to postpone the “so how have the past four years been” talk.”

Curt nodded and started walking. “Well to your left is the kitchen, please don’t try to eat a lot because I’m only allowed to go on so many errand runs. Straight ahead is the living room, standard couch, coffee table, armchair, TV, and bookshelf. If you turn that corner, there’s a blanket closet and my bedroom, don’t go in there if you know what’s good for you. If you turn that other corner, there’s your bedroom and bathroom. Any questions?”

“Yeah, what’s that other door by your room? You wouldn’t just have two closets in one hallway.”

Curt stiffened ever so slightly. “Spare room.”

“So I could technically take that one-”

Curt cut him off. “No, it’s connected to mine.”

Owen nodded. “Well we certainly wouldn’t want that. That’s it, no mini-gym?”

“Actually we do have one, but I didn’t know if I should show you that part of the house yet.”

“Oh, so you just chose not to use it.”

Curt glared at him. “Keep in mind that I’m keeping you alive. Besides, you’re acting like I got fat. I’m not going to be as fit as I was when I was in the field.”

“Speaking of which, why did you retire?”

Curt decided to completely brush him off. “Come on, I’ll show you that part of the house.” Curt led him over to a switch in the kitchen and flipped it. The fridge turned to reveal a dimly lit stairway. Curt started heading down the stairs and Owen followed him wondering if he was going to be murdered. At the base of the stairs were state of the art workout machines and a mini bar.

Owen walked over to it. “A mini bar, really Mega?” Owen leaned against the counter and accidentally hit a button hidden on it. The drink shelf flipped to reveal a shelf filled with weapons. Owen was impressed.

Curt picked up on that and grinned. “Cool right, I had Barb install it, along with a few other things…”

Owen looked at Curt, intrigued. “Like what?”

Curt shook his head and started heading back up the stairs. “Where’s the fun in that, Carvour. Besides, a few secrets never hurt anyone.”

Suddenly, Owen remembered the circumstances in which he was there for. “About that…”

Curt reached the top and looked at him. “Yes?”

Owen sighed. “What if I told you that somebody knew _our_ secret.”

All the color drained from Curt’s face. “What do you mean...Owen, what the hell did you do?”

“Why don’t you go sit down in the living room and I’ll go set my bag down in my room, then we can talk.”

Curt reluctantly complied and Owen went to his room. Like everything else in the house, it was quaint. There was a full size bed with white sheets, next to it was a little dark oak night stand that had a lamp next to it. In front of the bed was a closet with some one-size-fits-most clothes the agency provided, and in the corner was a desk made of the same wood as the night stand. Owen sat on the bed and lightly kicked a small trash bin. Being on basically house arrest was bad enough, but having to serve it with Curt Mega as his guardian; this was Owen’s own personal hell. Plus he had to go right back out there, look at Curt’s furry face, and retell the story of his major fuck up and how somebody knew they were gay, he most have pissed off some higher being. But somebody had to do it, and it might as well be Owen. 

Owen got up and walked back into the living room. Curt was sitting in the armchair and looked like he was ready for surgery. Owen sat down on the couch and sighed.

“So should I start from the beginning?”

Curt nodded. “The beginning is a good place to start.”

“Well as you probably assumed, I have been actively avoiding the American Secret Service since we broke up. It had been working, until recently. There was a new dangerous weapon that needed destroying and they only had a rookie to spare, so I was requested. After a lovely catch-up with Cynthia-”

“Cynthia and lovely don’t belong in the same sentence.”

“Let me finish, Mega. After an absolutely _pleasant_ catch-up with Cynthia, I went to the mission, made a couple of stupid mistakes-don’t start, and ended up face to face with who I assume to be the leader of the whole operation. He addressed me by my name and said he didn’t think that he would see me again after “Mr. Mega” and me “broke things off”.”

Curt stared at his lap. “He knows who I am too? Why did Cynthia send you to me then!?”

“Because she didn’t know…” , Curt glared at him, “what was I supposed to say “he knew I was dating your old agent ``?''

Curt ran a hand through his hair. “Well no, obviously! You could have just said something like, he said personal information relating to Curt Mega.”

Owen really felt dumb now. “Yeah, maybe! Except I didn’t even know you were doing this!”

Curt placed his head in his hands. “I’m not supposed to know who you’re going to be and you’re not supposed to know who I’m going to be. It’s agency policy, she probably just did this as another “fuck you” to me...it’s been a long day, why don’t you just head to your room and I’ll bring you dinner later?”

Owen scoffed. “I’ve been in a car all day, if anything I would want to hit up your gym-bar downstairs.”

“You’ve been in a car all day, nap then workout.”

“I’m not going to my bloody room, Mega! If you don’t want to see me so much, then go to your room.”

Curt paused for a beat. “You’re the one who left me…”

“And you left me out to dry…” On that note, Owen left and headed towards the kitchen. He ignored Curt’s call for him to wait and stopped at the door. There were strange noises coming from inside, voices, Owen decided. That definitely wasn’t right, Owen and Curt were supposed to be the only people in the house. Owen hesitantly turned the knob. Sitting on the counter was a little girl, who looked way too familiar, and a red-headed woman who was handing her a sippy cup.

The woman addressed the little girl. “Herre you go, Meghan.” That was definitely a Russian accent, what was an unauthorized Russian doing in Curt’s kitchen, especially during the Cold War? 

Curt burst into the kitchen and the Russian finally looked away from the little girl, and noticed Owen. She immediately paled and stood in front of the little girl. Despite this, the girl stretched her neck and glared at Owen. He couldn’t figure out why she would bother. Once he started looking between her and Curt though, he realized something.

“Owen, I can ex-” Curt realized that Owen had made the connection.

“Curt, is she…”

Curt sighed and nodded. “She’s my daughter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Curt is still gay and he didn't have sex with a female. Now that I got that out of the way, I think my upload schedule will be every other day since I have everything planned out. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading.


	4. Lay It On Me, Mega

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Curt explains everything that's happened since 1957.

“What the fuck, Mega!?” Owen’s world was turned upside down. When he broke-up with Curt four years ago, Curt was very gay and hated the family life. White-picket fences and housewives tended to disgust him, Owen vividly remembered the late-nights the two spent making fun of the whole idea. So how Curt ended up with a child that was obviously his, biologically, baffled Owen.

The Russian glared at him. “Don’t kurrse in frront of the child!” 

Owen blinked, he had forgotten that she was there. A thought suddenly occurred to him and he looked between her and Curt. “Oh Mega, you didn’t…”

Curt appeared taken aback. “Ew, gross Owen! No, she’s not Tati’s...look, I know this is confusing, but I promise there’s a good explanation.”

Owen gaped at him. “Does your agency even know about her?”

Curt nervously chuckled. “Actually, the agency doesn’t know about either of them…”

“Mega, give me one good reason why I don’t immediately call Cynthia and tell her why you really quit?”

Curt scoffed. “You don’t even know why I quit! You’re just jumping to conclusions!”

“Yeah, that’s what a good spy does!” All their yelling must have upset the little girl because she jumped off the counter and toddled over to hug Curt’s leg.

Curt smiled while he petted her hair. “Tati, can you go take Meghan to her room? I need to have a few words with Owen.” The Russian, Tati apparently, carefully removed Curt’s daughter from his leg and headed back into the hall. Curt coughed and gestured to the living room, Owen followed. The two sat down and Owen crossed his arms while looking at Curt expectantly.

Curt smiled awkwardly. “So, that was Tatiana and Meghan. I met Tatiana on a mission a while back and helped her get her freedom. She now helps me hide Meghan while my agency does their checks throughout the house.”

“That room by yours is hers?”

Curt nodded. “If my agency found it weird that I requested three rooms, they didn’t comment about it.”

“Lovely, so how was she made?”

Curt choked. “That’s forward...well I guess the best place to start is four years ago. After everything happened between us, the American Secret Service started looking for a new partner to...take care of my weak points.” 

“They needed somebody to stop you from being a dumbass?”

Curt grimaced. “I prefer to word it as somebody who can be my impulse control. Eventually they found them, Scarlet Davis. She was incredibly intelligent, female, and American, basically what you were but better for the agency.” Owen noticed that Curt said better for the agency and not just better, for some reason the choice of words made Owen feel better. 

Curt continued. “Initially she was just as annoyed as you were, but if you spend enough time with a person then you can learn to tolerate them. We posed as husband and wife on countless missions, soon we grew into an easy pattern. Honestly, I was scared that she expected a romantic relationship to develop. Then, one mission in particular changed everything. It was easily our most dangerous yet, both of us had gotten close to death. When we got back to the hotel, we unwinded with some whiskey and secrets started pouring out.” 

Owen knew exactly what Curt was talking about. He remembered a similar situation with Curt. Both were pretty new to the spy world, they had been paired up by their agencies as they two progressed in ranks. Their first truly dangerous mission had left both spies shaken up. The hotel the two were staying in had made an error with the rooms, so the two men had been left with taking turns sleeping on the floor. After the mission,neither cared enough to bother with the system, which lead to them squeezing onto the bed together in order to unwind. Curt’s favorite way to unwind was alcohol, a fact that currently made the downstairs bar concerning. It was while the two were squished together and the liquor in Curt’s system was starting to kick in, that Curt turned to Owen and confessed that he thought about him way too much. Owen remembered that moment with Curt had felt like the most intimate experience of his life at the time. Hearing that Curt shared something similar with Agent Davis caused him to feel a pang of something in his chest, something he didn’t want to identify.

“I told her my fears of her wanting something romantic between us... she laughed and confessed to me that women were more her speed. In fact, she used to have a lover that also worked for the American Secret Service. Apparently, the two had always talked about running away, going off grid, and starting a family. Davis was an orphan, she wanted to be able to be a mom and give a kid better experiences than she got. I remember her going into detail about their plans, it was that basic picket-fence shit…”, Curt remarked with a chuckle, but Owen could sense some longing there.

“They never got the chance, unfortunately. Davis’s lover was killed on a solo mission to Germany...her name was Meghan. Davis confessed that she had no desire to find another girlfriend, she was convinced that Meghan was her soulmate and she lost her. The spy business had left a sour taste in her mouth after that, she told me that she just wanted to leave and somehow start that family the two had always talked about, in order to honor her. At this point the whiskey really kicked in for me and me liking guys came out, I promised her that I would have helped her had kids if us having sex didn’t gross each other out.” Owen laughed at that, Curt usually made promises like that, almost impossible to keep but sincere.

Curt readjusted himself in the yellow armchair and coughed. “My promise stuck with her though, because I woke up to Scarlet shaking me awake and asking me if I had heard about freezing sperm...have you, it’s not a super common thing.”

Owen shrugged. “Kind of, I’ve heard mentions of it in certain circles but I doubt it’s really going to become big.”

“Well that’s more than I knew, she explained the process to me, in a bit too much detail, and laid out her big idea, I would essentially donate sperm to her and she would go off the grid.”

Owen raised an eyebrow. “Mega, haven’t you always kind of feared children?”

“That was the thing, she wanted to raise this baby on her own. In fact, she requested that if I went through with it, that I refrain from contacting her.”

Owen whistled. “Hated you that much, huh?”

Curt scoffed. “No, I think she just wanted this child to be her new life away from spying. She became an agent a lot younger than we did, and after losing a lover, she was more than ready to leave.”

“So how did you end up with the kid?”

Curt paused for a beat and sighed. “You know how it is, once a spy…”

Owen finished. “Always a spy...they found her?”

Curt nodded while keeping his eyes trained to the floor. “All the precautions she took couldn’t change one thing; Scarlet Davis knew too much. Just dropping off the map like that immediately put the agency on red alert, they were convinced that she was selling their secrets. They pulled me in for questioning but interrogations were always my strong suit.”, Curt ignored the questioning look Owen gave him, “Eventually everything died down, so I thought we were in the clear. Two months after the baby was supposed to be born, Scarlet contacted me to tell me that the agency were close to finding her and she didn’t know what would happen to Meghan.”, Owen had a couple of ideas, “She wanted to know if I knew anyone who could take her in and give Meghan the best possible life.”

“She didn’t think there was any chance of escaping.” 

“I thought she was overreacting, so I took the Meghan to watch and told her to do her best to escape. I assumed it would be easier to hide without a kid weighing you down and that I would only have Meghan for a couple nights...I should have known by how hard she was crying when she kissed Meghan goodbye.”

Owen absorbed the news. “You never planned...what did they do to her?”

Curt inhaled sharply. “They killed her, instantly. She had evaded them for about a year, they were pissed and convinced that she was a traitor. The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. Shortly after I got the news, I asked to retire. I think Cynthia assumed it had something to do with Scarlet. She just...she didn’t deserve it, she deserved some kind of happy ending, and she got death instead.”

Despite not knowing this woman, Owen’s heart mourned for her. He’d be lying if he said that he never thought about quitting being a spy once or twice. The thought had usually occurred to him while seeing Curt in pain. What could he say, he was a softie back during the early days of their relationship. So this brilliant spy wanting to leave and hold onto the remains after losing the love of her life, he couldn’t blame her or Curt for what they did. That still raised one question for Owen.

“How did you raise a child alone for so long? Or did the Russian co-parent?”

Curt snapped out of his somber mood and laughed. “My mom helped me out constantly for the first six months. I had Barb install some extra tunnels when she put in the mini-bar, Tatiana uses them to get Meghan in and out when the agency is here.”

Owen raised an eyebrow. “Is Barb in on the whole thing?” It would make sense based on the fact that Barb always had a crush the size of the moon on Curt, but she also loved abiding by the rules the American Secret Service set up.

“Yeah, she helped with the whole sperm thing too. She was surprisingly...cool with this whole operation.”

Owen stood up and stretched, his back was stiff from sitting so long. “Another question Mega, how did you plan to pull this off? If I didn’t go to the kitchen?”

“Well normally, I’m sent agents who have only heard of my name. So after the guards leave, I just act like she was here the whole time and they tend to assume she’s just from a failed marriage. We both know that relationships and spies don’t get well together...honestly, I think Cynthia sent you here to try and get me out of retirement.”

“Well relax, old boy. You’re clearly having the time of your life parenting Meghan Davis...she chose to name her daughter after her deceased lover? I guess that’s not too weird.”

Curt rolled his eyes. “Parenting isn’t too bad, you come to like it after awhile.”

“That is the scariest thing you’ve ever said, and you once told me we should blow up a prime minister’s summer home.”

“Very funny, also it’s Meghan Rebecca Mega-Davis.”

Owen paused as he realized something. “Does anything about her last names seem...off to you?”

Curt sighed. “Yeah...I probably should have put Davis first, but Mega-Davis sounded better than Davis-Mega.” 

Owen wondered if Curt was playing a trick on Owen or if he was just that dense. Judging by Curt’s nature, he got a feeling it was the latter. “I see, well at least you gave her one original name.”

Curt smiled. “Thanks, Scarlet never bothered to and it felt weird to give her a second last name and not a middle one.

“Well, thank you Curt. For telling me all this.”

Curt shrugged. “You are going to be here for awhile, plus it feels good to get all of that off my chest. Barb, Tatiana, and my mom just know bits and pieces.”

Owen decided to ignore the little feeling of happiness that arose from that statement. “Speaking of which, will you ever tell Meghan the whole truth?”

 

Curt solemnly nodded. “I’ll have to, but for now I’m just taking it one day at a time.” Owen wasn’t surprised, even in parenting that was Curt’s style. Regardless, Owen could handle this. Being in a house with his ex-boyfriend, said ex-boyfriend’s daughter, and a Russian spy who popped in occasionally didn’t seem too difficult. He would adjust, he had to for his sanity’s sake.

“Hey, Owen?”,Owen turned to face Curt, “Do you think we could try to be friends...bury the hatchet and all that…” Being friends with Curt Mega sounded like a very dumb decision, probably the worst for his own self-interest. Unfortunately, Owen had a hard time resisting Curt’s big brown eyes.

“We could certainly try, love.” Owen Carvour was a fool

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this one a lot earlier than I normally post chapters as an apology for immediately ruining my upload schedule right after I announce it. I'll try to stick to it, but some days are crazier than others. So, this fanfic toes the line between creative and self-indulgent, but some of you seem to enjoy it. Thanks for reading.


	5. Even I'm Surprised

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tatiana interrupts Owen's personal crisis and the two get to know each other a little better. Meanwhile, Owen is slowly learning more about Curt.

Owen swung his leg over the exercise bike and started pumping his legs. As the adrenaline started pumping through his body, Owen slowly settled into an easy rhythm. He knew that Cynthia’s judgement was spot on for the most part, but not this time. All of Owen’s qualities that made him a good spy were intact:quick reflexes, intuition, intelligence, being multilingual, charming, careful, and brave. That wasn’t the problem, it was like some part of him was missing, something was wrong with Owen. Despite Owen’s track record of having some of his best ideas while working out, soul-searching while cycling wasn’t working for him. That might be the problem itself, he wasn’t really one to soul-search. Hell, he was a spy, they arguably didn’t even have souls. Owen stopped pedaling and laid his head on the handlebars, if he didn’t figure this out, he was doomed to end up like Curt. Curt could probably help Owen with this, but Owen’s pride wouldn’t allow it. Just as he was about to slam his head against the handlebars in the hope that it would make his brain work, the Russian, Tatiana, entered.

She raised an eyebrow. “Killing yourself already? Kurt is zat unbearable?”

Owen snorted, he appreciated her humor when Meghan wasn’t around. “No and yes. I’m actually trying to find out how to not get myself killed on my next mission.”

Tatiana looked Owen over. After pausing for a beat, she pulled her hair into a tight, red bun. “Hand to hand kombat helps me zink.”

“Is that what Russians do for fun?” Owen was already getting off the bike.

Tatiana smirked. “No, our pastimes are more...violent.”

“You aren’t going to hurt me, are you love?”

Tatiana was already stepping inside the small ring in the corner of the room. “Only if you let me.” Owen would be madly in love with this woman if he wasn’t gay.

He followed her and positioned himself directly across from her. Despite her blue eyes being narrowed, she had a small smile on her face. Like this was a game, but one she intended to win. Owen was starting to wonder what he got himself into as she threw the first punch. Owen barely ducked in time, despite definitely being shorter than him, she put a lot of force into her punches. 

“Didn’t even wait for me to say ladies first, huh?” Owen moved his arm but was quickly blocked.

“I didn’t feel the need to. Besides, spies shouldn’t hesitate, no?” Tatiana used the force of the block to push him back.

Owen held his ground. “Suppose not. Say, you used to be with the KGB?”

Tatiana stiffened, he had hit a nerve. Owen took the opportunity to aim for her jaw but she leaped out of the way. It reminded Owen of the ballerinas present in the ballets he use to go see with his mother. “Used to, Kurtis helped me permanently sekure my freedom.”

“How did he do that?” Owen grabbed her arm while blocking another one of Tatiana’s punches and spun behind her.

“His agency vas already looking into the Nazi I vas vorking for, when they took him down, Kurt gave me my file so I kould return to my family.” Owen was impressed, Curt’s norm wasn’t intentionally disobeying Cynthia. Owen was so impressed that he didn’t notice Tatiana’s fist till it was too late. That really hurt and judging by her grin she knew it hurt.

Owen massaged his jaw. “So you stuck around?”

“I ove Kurt, what’s the history betveen you tvo?” Tatiana looked ready to keep going, she appeared to have only stopped to prolong the fight.

“Ex-partners.” That was a safe answer, it was true both ways.

“What happened?”

“Mega proved to be a bad partner.”

“Vas he the only bad partner?”

“Yes, no...maybe.” Owen wasn’t that ignorant, while Curt was the one who ultimately abandoned him, Owen knew that both men had been becoming more and more petty for a while. The long nights once spent cuddling and whispering had turned into passive aggressive comments about the other’s part in the mission. The very thing that brought them together seemed to wedge them apart. Owen wondered if it could have worked out if they weren’t spies, but what would they have in common then? Conversation always seemed present because they could complain about their bosses and compare missions. Without that, it was just really good sex. At this point, Owen realized that he probably shouldn’t think about sex with his ex while fighting a woman who could kill him with ease.

“It vas complikated?”

“You could say that.”

“You’re his ex-lover.” It wasn’t a question, it was definitely a statement. Owen connected the dots and saw that this was an interrogation tactic. 

Owen chuckled nervously. “What gives you that idea, love?” Tatiana swung her leg and sent him to the floor.

“You tvo are too tense around each other. Kurt is also very gay.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “Wasn’t that cheating?”

Tatiana studied Owen’s face for a moment. “I don’t believe rules vere made.” She held out her hand to help him up.

Owen cautiously took it. “You’re absolutely right, my dear. Say, are you still a spy?”

Tatiana shrugged. “Once spy, alvays spy. I don’t belong to an agency at the moment.”

“I’m sure if Curt’s old boss knew about you, she would immediately claim you.”

Tatiana smiled. “That is vhat Kurt says. Tell me, how veird is it that Kurt has a daughter?”

Owen ran a hand through his hair. “So weird, he doesn’t really scream dad, but considering the circumstances, it sounds like him.”

Tatiana nodded. “He is a good dad.”

Owen paused for a beat and turned to her. “Do you see something wrong with the order of her last names?”

Tatiana grimaced. “Unfortunately, he chose zem before I could intervene.”

Owen nodded. “Plus, most people ignore the name after the hyphen, so it’s-”

“Meghan Mega.” ,Tatiana finished, “I imagine her mom never thought she vould take his last name.”

“Well, giving your child your dead lover’s name is, odd, to say the least.”

“Really? I think it’s romantic.” Owen couldn’t imagine romance and this terrifying person put together, but Curt had proven to him that most stereotypes were invalid.

“Well what do I know? Mega always said that I was shitty at romance.”

Tatiana grinned. “Kurt’s shitty too.” Owen sensed that Tatiana and him would be good friends.

\-----------  
Owen completely forgot that he was expected to meet Curt’s kid until Curt mentioned it right before dinner.

“So normally I don’t do this but considering our personal history, you should probably properly meet Meghan.” Owen was temporarily distracted by how Curt looked leaning against the door frame, so his words took awhile to sink in.

“Wait, you want me to do what?”

Curt rolled his eyes. “She may not be three yet, but she’s not stupid. She can tell that I reacted differently to you than the other agents that came through here.” Owen wanted to disagree, but he remembered the first and last time he met his niece. Toddlers were very perceptive.

“That’s fair, but does she know that I’m not going to become a permanent part of her life, like Tatiana?” 

Curt immediately caught Owen’s true meaning. “Of course. Again, she’s very smart. Hell, I think she’s smarter than me and she can’t even read.” Self-deprecation was new for Curt, and Owen didn’t know how he felt about it.

“Good. This is just new territory, and all that…”

Curt nodded. “Come on out as soon as you’re ready, dinner’s almost done.” With that, Curt left.

Owen laid there for a minute. “Oh, hell.” He got up and headed into the blank hallway.

Owen ran into Tatiana while going to wash his hands. She had slipped into a comfortable looking purple sweater. He then realized that she had been in workout clothes earlier. Tatiana smiled when she saw him. Owen leaned close to her ear. “Mega can cook?” Owen pulled back and saw that she was making a face.

“It’s edible?”

“Does you owing him involve almost dying of poison?”

Tatiana laughed at that. Her laughter ended up attracting Meghan. Mini-Curt was a better name for her. Same amber-brown eyes, same smile, and even the same brown hair, hers just seemed curly. Currently her eyes were trained on Owen, she seemed to hate him for some reason. Mini-Curt must have Tatiana charmed, because all of her attention immediately shifted towards the little girl.

“You ready for dinner, Meghan?” The little girl nodded and hugged Tatiana’s leg. Owen hadn’t felt this awkward since middle school. Curt’s dad instincts must have kicked in, because he walked in shortly after she did.

“Oh there you are.”, Curt knelt down to her height, “Meghan, I want you to meet an old friend of mine. This is Owen, he’ll be living here for awhile.”

Owen cleared his throat and bent over. “Hello, Meghan.”

She glared at him for a beat and Owen wondered if she was mute. Finally, she responded. “You soodn’t be in kitchen. Others didn’t.” It took Owen a second to realize she was talking about earlier. Curt wasn’t wrong, she was intelligent.

Owen was still trying to figure out how to properly respond to her when Curt saved him. “Well, Owen is a special case, sweetheart.”, Curt scooped her up, “Come on, you’re probably hungry.” Curt left the room with Curt the second on his hip.

Owen reeled from that experience while Tatiana laughed. “Have you never met child?”

“No, MI6 doesn’t deal with tiny agents.”

Tatiana nodded knowingly. “I have brothers and sisters, so Meghan is piece of kake.”

“Cute.” The fact that Owen was socially inadequate when it came to kids washed over him.

\--------  
Dinner was relatively harmless. They all crammed around the tiny dining room table. Curt had made some variation of meat loaf, and Tatiana was right. It was edible. Conversation flowed easily between Tatiana, Curt, and Meghan. Owen was hit by how much they looked like a perfect nuclear family. He mostly just sat and ate, but Tatiana made attempts to include Owen every now and then. Owen dreaded dinner tomorrow when Tatiana would be gone. Arguably, he didn’t have to eat with Meghan and Curt, but it was polite. Speaking of which, Meghan and Curt’s interactions were something else. Curt naturally gravitated towards her, which made sense, she was the only constant friendly company he had. Meghan treated her dad like he was the best thing in the world. Owen thought this would leave Curt with an inflated ego, but the opposite was true. Curt seemed...scared around Meghan, unsure of himself. It was bizarre, and Owen couldn’t figure out why it was the case. Suddenly, Owen realized that his name was being called by Tatiana.

“What did you say, love?” Owen saw Curt’s nose scrunch up.

“I feel rude. I never asked if you figured out what you vere zinking about.”

“No, I guess I was preoccupied.”

Tatiana snorted. “You veren’t that bad. I’ve had vorse.”

“I feel honored.” Curt looked like a confused puppy. Suddenly, it hit Owen how suggestive their conversation was. Owen turned to Curt. “You ok, Mega?”

“Yeah…”

Tatiana got up and grabbed her plate. “ Vell I'm sorry you kouldn't figure it out. If you vant to fight again, let me know.”

Owen got up and shook her hand. “Absolutely, it was a pleasure to meet you, Tatiana.”

Tatiana smiled and grabbed his plate before he could protest. “I’ll try to stop by again before you leave. I know Meghan vould like that.”

Curt cleared his throat. “She definitely would.”, Meghan nodded, “I’ll help you with those dishes.” Curt and her left the room. Owen turned to look at Meghan, who immediately stuck her tongue out. Owen knew it was childish and petty, but before leaving the room he made sure to return the favor.

\--------  
Owen woke up for the third time that night. One glance at his watch told him it was one A.M. He was use to restless nights, but this was ridiculous. He lied on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Owen wished that there was something more interesting than just paneling up there. It seriously bugged him how empty this house felt, despite the two other people in it. He knew it was kept like that so Curt could abandon it at any time, but the house could be a little friendlier. Owen wondered what Curt was like with his other guests. He tended to put on this tough guy persona whenever he had to interact with coworkers. Owen liked to think he knew Curt better than that, that he wouldn’t buy it. Owen also liked to think that he was well past obsessively thinking about Curt. He couldn’t recall even thinking about Curt this much when they were dating. Owen finally decided that he wasn’t going to bed and was above laying around while thinking about someone not even close to him anymore. Owen got up and carefully headed to the kitchen. It was futile, because every footstep of his seemed to echo. He had a hunch that the house was designed with this exact purpose in mind. 

A symphony of footsteps later, Owen was peacefully enjoying his glass of water when he heard a startled cry. It was too feminine to be Curt, so Meghan. Since nobody came and silenced Owen while he was undergoing his journey to the kitchen, he assumed that the house was safe and she had experienced a nightmare. Owen heard her footsteps and felt bad, she was probably going to Curt. Issue was, Curt slept like a log. He had countless memories of Curt passing out on him and then getting mad when Owen finally managed to wake him up for a mission. Owen stuck his head out into the hall and heard quiet sniffling. He hoped for her sake that Curt was a bit nicer to his daughter. A new voice joined hers and within minutes the sniffling stopped. All Owen heard next were a few footsteps and the click of a door shutting. Owen softly smiled to himself, Curt must have calmed her down. Owen paused for a beat and then headed back to his room. He settled into bed and drifted off to sleep with one thought in mind: Curt Mega had possibly changed for the better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter's out so late. My WiFi stopped working for a while. I hope everyone enjoys the thrilling saga of me trying to figure out Tatiana's accent, it will pop up again because her friendship with Curt and Owen is very important to me. I'm apologizing in advance because I'm going on vacation, therefore my schedule will be ruined again. I hope you enjoyed this.


	6. I'm Sorry I'm So Awkward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Owen tries to handle being in the Mega household without Tatiana. Despite his best efforts, he keeps having moments with Curt and Mrs. Mega visits.

It had been two days since Tatiana left and Owen thought he was doing a splendid job at avoiding being with Curt and Meghan for too long. During dinner he hadn’t realized how unbearable it was to be around the father-daughter duo. Owen swore that two could communicate telepathically, with one glance Curt already knew what she needed or desired. He did consider the fact that Curt could just be that good of a dad, but the whole thing was freaky regardless. So, Owen spent those two glorious days working out, reading, sketching, attempting more pointless soul-searching, and just being bored in general. He still thought it was better than feeling as awkward as he did last time. Owen was about to try to take a nap when he heard a knock at the bedroom door. Judging by the force of the knock, it was Curt. He had to admit that he was touched that Curt bothered to knock, although he had probably accidentally seen enough naked bodies to pick up the habit.

“Come in, old boy. I’m fully clothed.”

Curt opened the door with a sheepish grin on his face. “That’s a relief.” Owen had to wonder if Curt bit back the obvious comment there. Then again, this was new territory for both of them, flirting wouldn’t help anyone. 

Owen took a proper look at Curt and noticed he was wearing a tight button-up. He actually remembered buying that with Curt, it had been kind of tight back then too. Owen did warn him that it wouldn’t fit comfortably within a year, which only prompted Curt to want to buy it more, out of spite. The fact that Curt still owned it was impressive. “Going somewhere?”

Curt looked down and chuckled. “Oh no, besides it wouldn’t be super appropriate to wear this outside. I guess you were right, it didn’t fit properly after a while.” 

Owen blinked, that was new. It was a change Owen could get behind though. “So what brings you to my room?”

“I was going to start a card game. I wanted to know if you would like to join, instead of staying cooped up in your room.”

Owen was about to immediately decline but he thought about it. Most three year olds didn’t play card games, so Meghan probably wouldn’t be there. Plus sleep was overrated. “I could go for a card game right about now.”

Curt smiled and a part of Owen wished there was a way for him to say yes again. The smarter part of Owen pointed out how it was just a smile. Owen listened to the latter side and stood up. 

“Great, I have everything set up in the living room,” ,Curt informed Owen before leaving the room.

“I’ll be just a minute!” Owen couldn’t help a small smile. He remembered the last time the two had played cards. It had been a cold night in Berlin, and they were huddled by the fire they had going. The two spies had been assigned a surveillance mission that had led to them having to camp out for the night, so a bottle of whiskey was passed around while they tried to remember the names of certain constellations. Curt being the talkative drunk that he was, started going on and on about how much he loved Owen. The alcohol wasn’t hitting Owen as hard, so he had assumed that Curt was doing this to compensate for their fight earlier. He shut Curt up with a kiss and in order to stop him from asking for more, Owen suggested that they play Rummy. Drunk Curt loved the idea and soon the night devolved into playful teasing reminiscent of their pre-dating days. Back when partner didn’t mean as much. Owen tore himself away from the memory and mentally scolded himself. Their relationship, especially at that point, had been a mess. There should be no reason that being around Curt made him nostalgic. If anything, Owen should feel grateful. Curt Mega had ended up retired, with a daughter and a gross beard. He didn’t want anything to do with that. Yet Owen couldn’t help and wonder if Curt would have still helped Scarlet if he had been dating Owen at the time. 

Upon walking into the living room, Owen quickly realized that this would be vastly different from Berlin. He wasn’t sure quite what he was expecting, but it wasn’t the colorful, handmade playing cards or Meghan in what appeared to be an old shirt of Tatiana’s that she was using as a dress. Owen quickly made the connection between Curt and Meghan’s outfit, this was a casino-esque dress up. He was slightly offended that he wasn’t informed. Judging by the look on Curt’s face though, he had withheld information in order to lure Owen out. He was almost impressed. 

“What are we playing, Mega?” He sat down on the floor and tried not to bump into Meghan’s pillow throne. Owen had to give the kid points for flair.

“We’re playing One Shoe.” Owen tried to rack his brain for that title, but nothing was coming up. He glanced at Curt, who waited until Meghan looked down at her cards and mouthed “Old Maid”. Owen could slightly see how Old Maid transferred to One Shoe, but what he couldn’t see is how he was supposed to tell what card was what. Meghan may be smart, but she wasn’t an artist.

Curt picked up on Owen’s confusion. “Is it ok if I double-count your cards, Owen?”

Owen grinned. “Trying to cheat, Mega?”

Curt rolled his eyes. “Hardly. Even if I did, Meghan would still win, because she’s the best. Right, pumpkin?” Meghan grinned while Curt ruffled her hair. Owen could see the Mega Ego developing already. Curt handed back Owen his cards and he saw that Curt had circled a little number in the corner of one card. A quick investigation revealed that each card had a number that corresponded with another card. Curt probably had to learn through trial and error in order to spare Meghan’s feelings. The thought of Curt losing countless games in order to figure out how it worked was funny in comparison to the thought of Curt refusing to read case files. 

Owen separated his pairs and the game began. He quickly learned that he was definitely out-matched here. The two of them were stuck in the house constantly, so they knew exactly what they were doing. Curt didn’t even seem to be going easy on Meghan, she could handle herself just fine. Owen ended up with the “one shoe” for the majority of the game, and he didn’t even start with it. Not that he was mad, of course. It was a children's game that a literal child crafted. Kind of boring too, but Meghan seemed happy. Meghan’s happiness was Curt’s objective here. Owen still didn’t have a clear one, so piggybacking off of Curt’s seemed like a fine idea.

“Ah, it appears I lost. What a pity.” Owen really hoped that didn’t sound as sarcastic as he thought it did.

Meghan narrowed her eyes at Owen. “Sore loser.” So it had sounded that sarcastic. Owen felt bad, it wasn’t that awful of an experience. She still didn’t have to call him a sore loser.

“I am not-ahem, what makes you say that?” Owen could hear Curt’s laughter but he was choosing to ignore it.

“You didn’ have fun. Cause you lost.”

“I had loads of fun!”

Meghan crossed her arms. “Prove it.”

Owen handed his cards to Curt. “We’ll play again.”

“You ‘ill lose.”

Owen then proceeded to lose for the next three games. Some time during game three, Owen noticed that Curt wasn’t winning any. He was still doing way better than Owen, but Curt couldn’t beat his own daughter. Owen couldn’t fathom how she was doing this good, there was very little strategy involved in Old Maid. Last time he checked, this game was mostly luck based. Although there was certainly a competitive feeling in the air, whether it stemmed from Owen’s childishness or Meghan’s win streak was unclear. By the end of the fourth game, Owen could safely say he was having fun. Having such a stubborn obstacle proved to bring a sense of challenge to a simple game. Just as Owen was about to request another, he noticed that Meghan had fallen asleep.

Owen glanced up at Curt, who was already walking towards her. “Is she ok?”

Curt carefully picked Meghan up and cradled her. “She’s fine, this is just around nap-time for her.”

“Oh, thank goodness.” Owen was kind of surprised to find himself genuinely caring. 

Curt disappeared into the hallway and soon came back Meghan-less. “So, I know it wasn’t poker at a high end casino, but did you still have fun?”

“Yes, actually. You raised quite the monster.”

Curt sat down next to Owen on the floor. “I’ll be completely honest, I don’t know how she does it. I tried to figure it out at first, but then I realized that it would ruin her fun.”

Owen nodded and stared at a piece of lint stuck to Curt’s knee. “You’ve always been good at that…”

“Hmm?”

“Realizing what you want.” Owen picked the piece of lint off of Curt.

Curt paused for a beat and then sent him a questioning look. “Are you having a crisis? Owen, you’re 29.”

“Never mind, just pretend I didn’t say that.”

Curt moved to hold Owen’s face but quickly dropped his hands. “Owen, I know everything is weird between us, but I was your friend before your boyfriend. You can talk to me. Plus, you don’t really have a lot of options.”

Owen chuckled. “Just, there’s some kind of personal issue that is preventing me from being a good spy. I can’t figure out what it is. I can’t even figure out when I stopped being a good spy, honestly.”

Curt ran a hand through his styled hair. “What even is a good spy? There’s so much gray area with that term...but if my memory serves me correctly, then it’s completing the mission as cleanly as possible for you.”

“Then why was I so messy last time? I was acting…” Owen couldn’t bring himself to say it. 

“Like me? Is that really so awful, Owen?”

“Maybe...I don’t know. To be honest, I never completely hated your style. It was exhilarating, like even if we blew the mission, we still had fun.”

Curt smiled softly. “They didn’t give us enough of that...you ever wonder when they stopped looking at us like humans?”

“I believe it was day one, old boy.”

“Always the cynic.”

“Just being realistic,-”

Curt finished Owen’s statement. “One of us has to...But why bother to stay the cynic if we aren’t fighting for our lives at the moment?” Those two phrases were the start of the majority of their fights. Being a spy meant that their work oozed into their personal life. Both men hated it after awhile, it was clearly tearing them apart. The issue was, they couldn’t stop. The two just kept going in circles, trying to get another response from the other. Owen knew Curt was sick of Owen telling him that “Spies always had to be cynical”, and he knew he was tired of Curt responding with “We’re not just spies!” Both statements were right and wrong, depending on who you asked. Currently, Owen had an option, a new environment and tons of experience that provided a new perspective.

“It’s in my nature, I guess.”

Curt snorted, Owen took it as a sign that he approved. “People can change. I certainly have.”

“Curt, you’ve changed for the better. What if I don’t?”

Curt placed his hand on Owen’s thigh. “You can improve, but how will you unless you try?”

Owen tried to ignore where Curt’s hand was. “When did you get so deep?”

Curt smiled and shrugged. “Comes with age.”

“You are a year older than me, Mega.”

“One very important year.”

Owen couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “If that’s what helps you sleep at night.”

Curt smirked. “So, I’ve changed for the better?” 

Owen couldn’t even bother to pretend to be surprised. Of course Curt would choose to focus on that. “In some ways.”

“Like?” Curt’s hand was very much still on Owen’s thigh. He didn’t have to be a spy to know that it was intentional at this point. Well if Curt got to pull that shit, so did Owen.

“Well that shirt definitely suits you a lot more now than it used to,” Owen stood up, “But your beard is disgusting.” Owen caught a glimpse of Curt’s red face as he left the room.

\------

Owen got hungry around six P.M. and decided to leave his room. Maybe it would be awkward if he ran into Curt, but Curt technically started it. As Owen was about to walk into the kitchen, he ran straight into him. Curt was currently dressed in a dark blue dress shirt and had shaved. Owen thought he looked great.

Curt smiled when he saw him. “Oh thank goodness, I was just about to get you. I need your help.”

Owen eyed Curt warily. “Did Meghan demand a huge upgrade for One Shoe?”

Curt didn’t even laugh at that. “Worse, my mom’s coming.”

Now Owen had met Mrs. Mega a few times. She hadn’t been phased when she met him for the first time, apparently Curt brought over several friends from work. Owen had just been the first foreign one. Mrs. Mega was a kind woman, maybe a bit overbearing, but she clearly loved her son. Owen also thought that she might be a bit...oblivious. After only being at the safe house for an hour, Curt started insisting they go to the basement for some “alone time”. Obviously he was a little put off by that, but Curt assured him that he had done it before. His mother believed that they were simply wrestling. Mrs. Mega was somehow convinced that her son was nothing but a proud heterosexual. As far as Owen knew, Curt never planned on telling her the truth. He wondered if that had changed thanks to the arrival of Meghan.

“What do I need to do?”

Curt grinned sheepishly. “Save dinner, I tried a new recipe and...it didn’t go well.”

Owen looked past Curt and saw a small cloud of smoke leaving the kitchen. “Is there a bloody fire in there?”

Curt shook his head. “Not at all, just a very black seven layer casserole…” Owen rushed past Curt and into the kitchen. It didn’t seem like the windows would open, so Owen instead opened the two doors that lead into the kitchen to take care of the smoke. He slid on an oven mitt and grabbed the casserole from the oven. The top three layers seemed burnt, but the bottom four were salvageable. Owen scraped them off into the trash. He then went to the fridge to see if he could melt some cheese on top to make it more appealing. Not only did he find a block of cheese, but he also found some vegetables. Soon, Owen had the casserole back in the oven and was making a salad. He heard tiny footsteps and looked up. Meghan was standing there.

“Are you burnin’ house?” 

Owen chuckled. “No, that was your dad. I’m trying to fix his mistake.”

Meghan sat down on a chair and considered what he said. “Did you make dert?” 

Owen assumed she meant “dessert” and not what you found in the ground. “Not yet. Do you want to?”

Meghan nodded and headed to the fridge. Owen quickly finished the salad and pulled out the casserole so he could monitor her. Currently, she was about to drop the milk, so Owen grabbed it from her. “What do you have in mind?”

“Cake.”

Owen quickly checked that they had everything. “That could work,” Owen caught the egg she almost dropped, “I’ll grab the ingredients, and you can pour them in, ok?”

“Okay.” Meghan then climbed on top of a stool and Owen thought he was going to have an aneurysm. 

Making a cake didn’t prove to be too hard. Owen still remembered the recipe his mother taught him. Plus, Meghan was a good listener, just very messy. He was convinced she got cake batter everywhere but the bowl. Regardless, they still managed to get a cake in the oven just as Curt walked in with Mrs. Mega.

Curt surveyed the mess in his kitchen. “Oh Meghan, you’re all dirty. Owen, I just gave her a bath!”

Owen blinked. “I-” He was cut off by Mrs. Mega hugging him.

“Owen, sweetie, it’s been too long! I thought you and Curtis quit talking years ago?”

Owen smiled under her tight embrace. “We did. I’m actually here as one of the agents for Curt to protect.”

Mrs. Mega frowned. “This isn’t even your country, must be real bad.”

“It is unfortunate.”

Curt gestured around the room. “Mom!”

Mrs. Mega waved him off. “Oh relax, Curtis. It’s nothing a mop can’t fix. Well except for my granddaughter, who needs to give me a hug!” Meghan complied and ran into her grandmother’s arms. Mrs. Mega used the corner of her pink dress to wipe Meghan’s face. Owen didn’t think he had seen Mrs. Mega dressed that nicely before.

Owen turned to Curt. “She wanted a cake.”

Curt sighed. “Yeah, okay. Just help me bring the food out, please.”

Owen nodded and did so. Soon they were all eating and Mrs. Mega was grilling everyone with questions. Owen seemed to be her favorite to ask. He was thankful that she was keeping the conversation alive, so he willing answered most of them. By the time they got to the cake, Meghan had passed out in her seat. Curt tucked her in for the night and rejoined them at the table. 

Mrs. Mega took a sip of her water. “So Curtis had you save dinner tonight, Owen?”

“Yeah.”

Mrs. Mega sighed. “You’re going to make some girl very happy, Owen. I’m lucky Curtis was even able to give me a grandchild. A daughter-in-law would have been nice too, but you win some, you lose some.”

Owen looked back and forth between her and Curt. “So you know how he got Meghan?”

Mrs. Mega nodded. “Of course, her parents were friends of his. They wanted a kid, but the husband had male infertility. So, Curtis was nice enough to help out. Such a shame that they got killed on a mission together. Thankfully, Curtis was responsible enough to step down from his position and take care of her. “ Owen glanced at Curt. Curt mouthed “later” and took a sip from his glass.

Mrs. Mega turned to Owen. “Have you met Tati yet, dear? I’m hoping Curtis and her tie the knot. Y'know, she was the first girl he introduced me to.” 

Curt started violently coughing. “Mom!”

Mrs.Mega held up her hands. “What, she’s quite a gal! Plus she loves Meghan.”

“Yes, she’s something else, Mrs. Mega,” ,Owen responded.

Mrs. Mega grinned. “See Curtis, Owen’s going to take her if you don’t do something.”

“Owen can do whatever he pleases with Tatiana, Mom.”

Mrs. Mega rolled her eyes. “Such a stupid boy,” she kissed his head, “I'll leave now so you two can clean.”

“Alright, get home safe, Mom.”

“I will.” Mrs. Mega hugged Owen.

Owen hugged her back. “It was a pleasure to see you again, ma’am.”

“Oh, the pleasure was all mine. Keep an eye on Curtis, ok?” Owen nodded and went into the kitchen after Curt.

Curt was surveying the damage. “You two did a number on the place.”

“Your daughter doesn’t have the best aim.”

Curt rolled up his sleeves. “I’ll have to help her improve that then.” He handed Owen a rag.

Owen started wiping down the counters. “So, you lied?”

Curt took out a mop. “No, I just didn’t tell her the full truth. I told her Scarlet had a partner, she assumed it was a husband.”

“Did she assume that you and Tatiana were in love?”

Curt scoffed and started mopping the floor. “I think it was more of blind hope on her part.”

“She means well, I think.”

Curt nodded. “She just wants me to have a nice life away from spying. I also think she wants Meghan to have two parents, especially since I didn’t.”

“Sometimes families don’t need two…”

Curt sighed. “No, but it makes things easier.”

“Well, you seem to be doing a good job.”

Curt paused for a beat. “Maybe.”

Owen tried to move to the other side of the kitchen, but he underestimated how slippery the floors were. Thankfully, Curt’s reflexes were still intact, because he caught Owen before he fell. 

Curt looked down and smiled awkwardly. “Sorry, should have warned you.”

Owen stared at Curt. “Quite alright, old boy.” 

Curt gently moved his thumb across Owen’s cheek. “You got some flour there...”

Owen gulped and stood up. “Your face looks nice.”

Curt tilted his head. “My face?”

“Without the beard. Your face looks nice without the beard.”

“Oh, yeah. A couple other people complained about it too, so I thought might as well…”

“Other opinions can be useful, they’re why I cut my hair.”

“I thought it looked shorter.”

“You use to complain about it constantly.”

Curt chuckled. “It use to always tickle my face when we…” Owen inwardly cringed. Leave it to Curt to accidentally bring up the fact that they use to make out. Owen decided that it was best to ignore the comment. He carefully moved to the other side of the kitchen and started wiping it down. 

Curt sighed. “Fuck, sorry. That was weird...this whole thing is weird. I keep thinking about four years ago and everything that happened.”

“Yeah, me too…”

Curt took a step closer to Owen. “Really?”

Owen was tempted to yell yes. To let Curt know that he sometimes stares at his lips too long. Owen wanted to tell Curt that he missed cuddling in bed, that he missed having someone there. But doing any of that would be incredibly foolish. So Owen was relieved when Meghan walked into the kitchen and stopped him from hurting both of them.

“Papa, I wan’ a ‘ory.”

Curt took one last glance at Owen and then turned to Meghan. “Of course, come on, pumpkin.” Curt grabbed her hand and left the room.

Owen leaned against the counter and sighed. While it was nice to know that Curt also thought about them, a romantic relationship couldn’t happen again. Owen knew that they were probably just nostalgic for the good parts of the relationship. It just really didn't help that Curt was extremely attractive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back, and boy was this long. I'm thinking I might extend the chapters because everything I need to do before what happens in Chapter Eight feels too long for one chapter. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed.


	7. An Interesting Development

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Curt and Owen get on friendlier terms.

Owen opened his eyes after a dreamless night of sleep. They were his favorite, six to eight hours of nothingness. It comforted him, in some strange way. Besides, he never found that he had anything worth dreaming about. Owen yawned and pushed himself up. As he was rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Owen noticed the woman sitting on the foot of his bed. More specifically, Tatiana.

“Oh bloody hell, Tati! How long have you been in here?”

Taiana shrugged. “Loong enough to knoow that yew talk in your sleep.”

Owen held his head in his hands. “Which is why I keep my door locked...did you pick the lock?”

Tatiana held up a key. “Curt gaeve it to me, I’m babysitting.”

“Me or Meghan?”

Tatiana grinned. “Booth, normally yew would go in the panic room downstairs while Curt shops, but Curt didn’t waant to wake yew.”

“How considerate, well it’s good to see you again. Although the circumstances are odd.”

Tatiana nodded. “So hoow have yew been adguhusting?”

Owen wasn’t quite sure how to answer that. He had been doing a decent job, he supposed. Owen had a routine and was comfortable in the house. Despite baking a cake together, Meghan went back to hating Owen again. He didn’t have a single clue as to what he did to upset the little girl, but he learned to accept her hatred. Curt and him were pretending to be ok. Two weeks had passed since the whole “I think about us” incident, and neither of the men wanted to acknowledge it. The whole situation was awkward and messy, which seemed to be their style these days. Owen took it as status quo at this point. Obviously, he didn’t want to tell Tatiana any of this.

“It’s been great, you know?”

Tatiana looked him over. “You’re a good leer. I would believe yew if Curt wasn’t so obvious about the whoole thing.”

Owen groaned. “What did he say?”

“He didn’t have to say a thing, I mentioned yew and he got all anntsy.”

“Something, almost, happened a while ago.”

Tatiana raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t it happen?”

“Meghan thankfully interrupted us.”

Tatiana got up and glanced down at Owen. “Yew want something to happen, right?”

Owen sighed. “We’re exes for a reason, nothing should happen. Especially not because I’m horny.”

“Yew think that’s what thees is?”

Owen stared at her. “Well isn’t it?”

“I’m not your heart or peenis, Owen. I wouldn’t know.”

“I don’t know either, that’s the problem,” Owen stood up and stretched, “Can you leave, please? I want to get ready.”

“I’ll be in Meghan’s room.” Tatiana left and Owen got ready for the day. 

\-------  
Owen figured that he might as well go to Meghan’s room. He didn’t want to disappoint Tatiana, for various reasons. Besides, this gave him something to do. Upon entering the room, he noticed long sheets of paper hung up on the walls. They all depicted paintings of various scenes. Owen was admiring one of a bear family in the forest when Tatiana walked up.

“Beautiful, aren’t they? Barb did theem.”

Owen nodded. “I didn’t know she was so artistically gifted.” He turned towards her and fought back a laugh. Tatiana was currently dressed in a calf-length magenta dress that had puff sleeves. Her hair was pulled back into a simple bun and there was a plastic tiara tucked in it. 

Tatiana sensed his amusement and held up a pair of fairy wings and a headband with horns. “I’m the princess, yew get to bee the evil fairy.”

“Aren’t fairies nice?”

Tatiana’s lips twitched. “Not in this fairytale.”

Owen’s objections were cut off by Meghan bursting out of the bathroom. She was dressed in a cardboard outfit made to resemble armor. One look at her plastic sword and he couldn’t find it in his heart to say no, even if this kid did hate him. Owen shrugged on the wings and thought about the situation. He liked to consider himself a bit of an actor, it came with the job. Some spies were better at it than others; for example, Curt’s acting was always too hammy for Owen’s taste. Owen could see himself playing the villain, he had done it several times and was a little too good at it, but a fairy? How the hell does one play a fairy? What was even his motivation? As he slid the headband on, Owen realized that none of his questions would get answers. 

Meghan gave Owen a smug look. “Steal hew.” 

Owen flung Tatiana over his shoulder as she got right into character. “Unhand me, fooul beast!”

He decided that it was all or nothing. “Not a chance! You’re going to my dungeon where you’ll rot away with the rats!” Was that too dark for Meghan? Apparently not, as Meghan seemed to be enjoying it.

Tatiana kicked her legs. “Yew won’t get away with thees!”

Owen laughed maniacally. “I already have, dear.”

Meghan jumped forward and raised her sword. “Pu her dow!”

Owen nearly cried about how cute that was. “Oh, you think you can defeat me, tiny knight?”

Meghan ran forward and started stabbing Owen’s leg. “Die!”

Tatiana cheered. “Get him, nooble knight!”

Owen let his knees buckle. “Ah, you won’t get me that easily!” He lightly nudged his foot in Meghan’s direction.

Meghan tried to jump away and fell to the floor. “Dwat!” Owen wasn’t even sure where she learned that word.

He started slowly jogging to the other side of the room. “You’ll never catch me now!”

Meghan started running after him. “I comin!”

Owen plopped Tatiana onto the bed and turned to face Meghan. “Once you defeat me, then you can save her!” 

What ensued next was an epic three minute battle of Meghan stabbing at him and Owen side-stepping while throwing pillows in her general direction. Eventually, Meghan threw the sword and as it hit Owen’s chest, he promptly fell to the floor.

Owen wiggled around for a bit. “Oh you got me! Bested by the tiny knight!”

Meghan then stood on his chest and he didn’t even have to pretend that it hurt. “You awe dead!” Meghan ran over to Tatiana.

Tatiana smiled. “Yew saved me! Thank you, brave knight.” Tatiana kissed Meghan’s head.

Meghan’s eyes lit up; she ran back to Owen and kicked him. “You awe undead now.”

Owen sat up. “Thanks.”

Meghan jumped up and down. “You di good!”

Tatiana nodded. “I was impressed.”

Owen stood up. “I tried, now if you’ll excuse me, I need to use the restroom.” 

Owen shut the bathroom door behind him and tried to hold back the huge smile he felt coming on. He honestly had a lot of fun, he also had a lot more bruises. Regardless, he wouldn’t be opposed to doing that again. Owen then realized how sad it was that he would do that again.

Owen leaned against the counter. “You’ve really hit rock bottom, huh Carvour?”

“Well I wouldn’t say rock bottom.” Curt was standing in the doorway for his room with a grin on his face.

Owen cleared his throat and tried to act natural. “I thought you were shopping?”

Curt walked into the bathroom. “Just finished, I heard a commotion coming from Meghan’s room though.”

“In my defense, I was scared of what Tatiana would do to me if I said no.”

Curt tilted his head and stared at Owen. “It sounds like you were motivated more by pleasing Meghan.”

“You’re the same way.”

“I am not!”

Owen raised an eyebrow. “Name one thing you wouldn’t do for her?”

Curt paused for a beat. “I wouldn’t allow her to do illegal...things.”

“Curt, her whole damn existence is illegal.”

“Ok, fair.”

Owen cautiously eyed the door leading to Meghan’s room. “I should be off the hook now, right?”

“I guess, if you hated it that much.” Curt touched a button on his watch and Owen heard a small click.

“Oh you did not just-”

“I’ll definitely have Barb print this one up.”

“Curt Mega, give me the watch.”

Curt slowly backed into his room. “Not a chance, Carvour.”

Owen ran to him and tried to grab his wrist. Curt stopped him by looping his fingers with Owen’s. Owen raised an eyebrow. “I have another hand, Curt.”

“I know.” Curt was smiling.

Owen stared at their entwined hands. “Are you just keeping that picture for you?”

“I might use it for my Christmas cards,” Owen gave him a look, “I’m kidding, yeah it’ll be for me.”

“I don’t have a clue as to why you would enjoy staring at it. I know you have prettier pictures of me.”

Curt awkwardly chuckled. “I actually threw all of those away...but I would like some new ones.”

Owen couldn’t decide if that was smooth or not. He looked at Curt’s warm, copper eyes then down to his parted lips. Both of them made him wonder if it was time to throw caution to the wind. He wasn’t lying to Tatiana earlier, he didn’t know if he still had feelings for Curt or if it had just been a really long time since he had a good fuck. Owen just knew that he really wanted Curt’s lips on his. So, he chose to pull a Curt and go for what he wanted. Curt’s lip were exactly how Owen remembered; soft and plump. He heard Curt make a noise of surprise before he reciprocated. Curt moved his spare arm to wrap it around Owen’s neck. Owen immediately knew what Curt wanted and deepened the kiss. It was reminiscent of their kisses from four years ago, and it made Owen wish he could stay in the moment forever. All too soon, Curt pulled away.

“Can we take care of the outfit? I hate to kill the mood, but I don’t want to do this with Evil Fairy Owen…” 

“Really, I thought you were into this for a second.”

Curt rolled his eyes. “I’ll wait for you on the bed.”

Owen pursed his lips. “Alright, just...you know this isn’t four years ago, right?”

“Honestly, that’s what I am counting on.”

Owen started taking off the wings. Was he really excited about messing around with his ex-boyfriend, that he dumped? Unfortunately, yes. This thought made Owen realize that his personal life needed to be spruced up, maybe he should get a cat. All thoughts of pussies aside, Owen had set a bomb on the fragile fragments of his relationship with Curt. There was no going back now, only forward. Owen would be the one to decide how far he went. 

Owen turned around and was greeted with the sight of the other man leaning against the headboard of his bed. Owen got on the bed and joined him. He started kissing Curt’s neck.

Curt made a noise. “In all seriousness, it’s great that you got along with Meghan. I’ve been sensing tha-”

Owen groaned. “This better not be your idea of foreplay.”

“It’s not, just I wanted to say something before I get distract-” 

“Curt, just use your big arms to pin me down on this bed and stop talking about your daughter.”

Owen could sense Curt smirking. “Aw, you think I have big arms?”

“You’re insufferable.”

“So I’m told.” Owen felt himself get pinned and Curt’s lips back on top of his.

\-------

Owen was incredibly at peace at the moment, and he knew Curt felt the same way. It was easy for them to get caught up in the ecstasy of it all. He nearly laid his head on Curt’s chest, but stopped himself. Getting comfortable wasn’t a good idea. This was always the best part about the relationship, the one that made it easy to forget about all the shitty, complicated parts. Instead, Owen slowly sat up.

“I’m feeling a bit tired, old boy. I think I’m going to head back to my room.”

Curt gave Owen a tight-lipped smile. “Get some rest.”

Owen grabbed a towel from the corner of the room to wrap himself in. He left Curt’s room and slipped into his own. Sitting once again at the foot of his bed, was Tatiana.

Owen pulled the towel closer and stared at his feet. “You sure like this room...”

Tatiana kept her focus on him. “Meghan wanted to know what haappened to yew. I told her you got busy and distracted her with baking.”

Owen coughed. “Yes, well…”

Tatiana’s eyes moved down to his neck and focused on a discolored spot. “You’re welcoome, but remember that I won’t be here next tiime. 

Owen sighed and pulled a shirt from his closet. “Honestly, I’m not sure if there will be a “next time”...”

Tatiana handed him a pair of sweats. “What do yew mean?”

Owen took them and shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t stick around long enough to see if a next time was a shared idea.”

“Why not?”

“Why do you care! Why do you insist on getting yourself involved in difficult situations that don’t involve you!?” Owen saw the hurt look on Tatiana’s face. “Fuck, I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”

Tatiana exhaled through her nose. “You’re right, it was. It was also uncalled foor foor me to get involved. I shouldn’t have even pushed yew in the first place.”

Owen slid on the sweats. “Quite alright, love. I would be frustrated too.”

Tatiana folded her hands in her lap. “Curt and yew mean a lot to me. I just want yew two to be the happiest yew can be”

“Tati, I know you’re good friends with Curt. You don’t have to include me to make me feel better.

“I meant what I said. You’re a good peerson, Owen. Your moral compass is just a bit skewed.”

“That’s a nice thing to say to somebody who has killed people before.”

Tatiana stood up and made herself eye-level with Owen. “Yew would not believe what I had to doo for the KGB. I still think I can be a good person, and when I have doubts I work it out.”

Owen looked at his feet and then up at Tatiana. “Then can we have a rematch.”

Tatiana nodded. The two went to the basement and had a rematch, completely unaware of Curt watching them. 

\-------

Owen made his way into the kitchen a few days later. He had suffered from seemingly endless nightmares the night before; all he wanted now was some coffee. Thankfully, Curt already had a pot brewing. He was sleepily leaning against the counter and the sunlight was hitting all of his best features. He was wearing nothing but an open bathrobe and slippers. Owen was thankful for the view. 

He must have been staring for too long because Curt shot him a weird glance. “You ok there, Owen?”

Owen coughed. “Just dandy, can I get some of that coffee?”

“As soon as it’s done. I’m guessing the nightmares are bothering you again?”

Owen sighed and rubbed his face. “They never stop for long.”

Curt nodded. “It’s not an easy business.”

“Did it get easier with retirement?”

Curt shrugged. “I still have nightmares, just not as frequently.”

“Well that’s an improvement at least...the nightmares weren’t as bad with you.”

Curt sensed his double meaning, but before he could say anything the coffee was finished. Curt poured a cup for each of them and handed one to Owen. 

Owen added some sugar to his. “So, what’s on the agenda today?”

“Just some paperwork, but it can be ignored if needed.”

Owen raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Curt licked his lips. “Yeah, if I get a tempting offer.”

“Maybe I can provide one…”

Curt grinned. “That’s what I like to hear.”

Owen chuckled and lead him back to Curt’s room. Curt looked like he was about to say something, but Owen’s lips cut him off. Curt pulled him on the bed and started taking off Owen’s shirt. The door was pushed open and Owen was shoved to the floor.

Meghan toddled in. “Brekfas?”

Curt cleared his throat. “Of course, pumpkin. Just go on ahead to the dining room.”

Meghan listened and Curt leaned over to check on Owen. “You alright?”

Owen winced. “You’re really strong for a retired person…”

Curt bit his lip. “Fuck, I’m sorry.”

Owen got up. “It’s alright, I’ll just let you get back to Meghan and your paperwork.”

“Ok then…”

Owen rubbed his side and trudged back to his cold cup of coffee.

\-------  
Owen was in a bit of a pickle. He was currently trapped under Curt’s arm and he really didn’t want to be there. Laying here, this close to a sleeping Curt brought back painful memories. It felt like there was a pit in Owen’s chest, and he just wanted it gone. He stared at Curt’s rising and falling chest for awhile. He wasn’t doing anything wrong, he hadn’t once insisted that they actually make a relationship out of this. Owen shouldn’t mind a relationship, Curt had changed a lot, but his biggest flaw was still present. He didn’t believe that Curt could ever fix it, so casual sex was best for now. Owen raised his head and looked around. They had moved to the basement in order to not wake a sleeping Meghan. The major con of that was that they had just had sex on one of the wrestling mats. Gross, but they had done worse. The stairway that lead back to the house wasn’t too far, he just had to get out from under Curt without waking him up. 

Owen then got an idea. He lightly grazed his fingers behind Curt’s ear; Curt shifted and moved away from him. He carefully stood up and got to the base of the stairs before he heard a voice.

“O-wen...where ya goin...we have a while before the mission…”

Well, Owen could use that. “I know, love. I just have to get a few things sorted, that’s all.”

Curt grumbled. “Fine, hurry back…”

“Will do, love.”

Owen quickly trotted up the stairs and entered the kitchen. He leaned against the counter and sighed. This whole thing was so childish, he was 29, he should be better than this. Tatiana would be pissed at him if she knew. She’d find out sooner than later and would kill Owen on the spot, at least he would be free of this game then. Curt was nice and handsome, arguably a ten, Owen was just petty, he supposed. He grabbed a glass from the cabinet and got some water from the faucet. The sounds of the water hitting the glass filled the house. An orchestra of splashing in a den of silence. An orchestra that Owen was conducting; the fact that he had complete control of it comforted him. Owen shut off the faucet and took a long sip. The silence unnerved him, he had grown...fond of the noise that the Mega’s hi-jinks produced. Owen decided to mess with the faucet. He tried turning it on and off several times and found that the sound of water hitting the sink was better than nothing. The government was paying the bill anyways. He was in the middle of letting the sound wash over him when he was suddenly hit straight in the crotch. Owen cursed loudly and looked down to see his attacker, Meghan.

Meghan looked back at him in shock. “I-i…”

Owen gritted his teeth. “Meghan, what was that for..”

There was a sound and then the fridge moved to reveal a very sleepy Curt. “What happened...are you ok, Meghan?”

Owen huffed. “Oh she’s perfectly ok.”

Meghan stared at her feet. “I tot he wa a bad guy.”

Curt chuckled. “It’s alright, sweetie. Accidents happen. Now why don’t you head back to bed and I’ll be there in a second to tuck you in.” Meghan nodded and scurried back to her room. Curt turned to face Owen. “Are you alright, that looks really painfu-”

“I’m perfectly _fine_ , Mega.” Owen moved past him and headed back to his room. Every footstep sounded like a gunshot. He didn’t know why he was so bothered by it all, his balls had been hit several times before. He came to the conclusion that this was an emotional thing. Owen opened the door to his room and took it all in. He had been there for awhile and yet he still felt like a stranger in this house. It was probably his fault, Owen had been given chances, he just couldn’t take them. Not that it mattered that much, any day now Cynthia would notify them that the threat was neutralized. He would leave and never see Curt or his adorable daughter again. As Owen got changed, he decided that was fine. He would get a cat, try harder to control his emotions, and find a stable boyfriend. One that wasn’t as dense as Curt.

\-------

Owen felt loads better the next morning. He was well-rested and had realized that he was being bitchy the night before. Now he just wanted to find Curt and try to smooth things over. Owen walked over to Curt’s door but only heard silence. He leaned against the wall and tried to remember what Curt did on Thursday mornings. Owen heard a sound and then Meghan was at his side. 

“I’m sowwy.”

Owen looked down at her. “Oh, it’s alright. You were just doing what you were probably taught to do.” He had no idea why a two year old needed to be taught to do that, but when in the business of spies, why not. 

Meghan grinned. “Do you wan…” Owen tuned out after that, he hadn’t meant to, but he realized that Curt should have been in his room. Curt used Thursday mornings to write out how much was left of all of their supplies. So Curt was usually in his room till nine A.M., but it was only 7:30 and he was nowhere to be found. Actually, Meghan usually didn’t leave her room for breakfast until 8:30, so that was also odd. Owen wondered if there was something special happening today. He looked back down at Meghan and was met with the sight of her staring at him expectantly. Owen remembered hearing the words “play pwetend”, which he was fine with.

“That sounds great, but maybe later. Say, is there something special happening today?”

Meghan shook her head. “I’m up eawy.”

“I see...know where your dad is?”

“Kichen”

“Thank you. I’ll get back to you about that later.” Meghan sighed but nodded, so Owen took that as his cue to leave. He opened the door to the kitchen and was greeted with a dark room. Upon squinting, Owen realized that his glass from the night before was still on the counter. His eyes then landed on Curt. Curt was leaning against the fridge and vacantly staring at a pudding cup that was in his hand. He moved his other hand and violently scooped up a spoonful. Owen came to the conclusion that he needed to intervene in order to save the cup. 

He slowly walked over to Curt with his hands up. “Hey…”

Curt looked up at him sadly. “Not now, Owen.”

“I’m just here to apologize. I acted a bit mean last night, I shouldn’t have snapped at you.” Curt shrugged and stared back down at the pudding cup. Owen gently took it from his hand and set it on the counter. He grabbed Curt’s hands and kissed them. “I’ve been acting a lot more emotional than I should be”

Curt met his gaze. “Emotions aren’t a bad thing, Owen.” It bothered Owen how sincerely Curt said his name.

“Well, they certainly make things more difficult.”

Curt made himself taller and kissed Owen. It was the most heartbreaking kiss he had ever experienced. Curt was pouring way too many emotions in to it, more than Owen could possibly handle. The kiss made Owen want to laugh and cry at the same time. He pulled back and studied Curt’s face. Curt seemed...nervous, and Owen wanted him to stop. To stop being nervous and so emotionally vulnerable.  


Curt lightly kissed his cheek. “Don’t apologize for being emotional. Please apologize for other things, but not that.”

Then, the queerest thing happened. Owen started crying, just full-blown sobbing. He wanted to walk away, to go in his room until it was over, but Curt didn’t give him the chance. He led Owen over to the living room, sat him down on the couch, threw a blanket over him, and just let Owen sob into his shoulder. He wasn’t sure how long the two of them were there. He heard Meghan’s voice a few times, and Curt got up briefly to make her some breakfast, but for the most part it was just the two of them on that couch. All Owen’s senses could hear were _Curt_ , _Curt_ , and _Curt_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I was gone for so long. Things just kept coming up and I barely had time to write. I wish I could say I would be updating more frequently now, but I'm actually going on vacation in a few days. You also probably noticed that I added an extra chapter; it just works out better pacing wise.


	8. I'm His, He's Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Curt and Owen both try their best to work things out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very light mentions of alcohol abuse.

Owen eventually drifted asleep on Curt; he was feeling incredibly safe in a way that he hadn’t in the past four years. When Owen woke up, half of the body heat previously there was gone. He slowly sat up and looked around. Curt had left Owen alone on the couch with a note in his place. He tried to blink the sleep from his eyes a couple times before grabbing the note.

“Had to take care of Meghan.  
You should drink some water.  
-C”

“Short and sweet, just like him, I suppose…” Owen stood up and stretched. Obviously Curt couldn’t keep holding him forever, he was a father now who shouldn’t have to be there for Owen’s breakdown. Curt didn’t even know why Owen started sobbing in the first place, Owen barely knew himself. Although the whole episode proved that Curt had indeed changed, Curt never used to be that tender. It was always sex, cheesy one-liners, and semi-friendly competitions. Curt also used to be even worse about bottling up his feelings then Owen was. Owen had only witnessed Curt Mega cry once.

The two were on a mission in Sweden, they had to steal the manuscripts of a very important conversation. Curt had been apprehended, so Owen ran back to get him and was shot in the chest during the scuffle. The bullet wasn’t anywhere near Owen’s heart, but the other injuries he had sustained were too taxing for his body. Owen passed out and woke up to find himself patched up and Curt quietly crying next to him. He questioned Curt about it, only to be brushed off. It was sweet, but Owen had to wonder if it was out of guilt. Nowadays, Curt would probably tell him if he asked politely enough. Owen liked the change, he really did, but now Curt felt like a stranger at times. A stranger that Owen desperately wanted to know. 

Owen moved to the kitchen to take Curt’s advice, and found a very familiar blonde tinkering with the fridge.

“Barb?” Owen took a few tentative steps in her direction.

Barb turned towards Owen and smiled. “Agent Carvour, it’s been awhile.”

“It has,” The only thing that had changed about Barb was her style in clothes, “...out of curiosity, what are you doing to the fridge?”

“Fixing it, Curt complained that it wasn’t opening and closing as smoothly anymore.”

Owen glanced at the huge fridge door. “Should you really be the one fixing it?”

Barb shot him a look. “I am the one who installed it.”

Owen held up his hands in surrender. “Not what I meant, just couldn't Curt do it on his own?”

Barb sighed. “He’d probably just break it. Besides, I don’t really mind visiting him.”

“And Meghan?”

Barb bit her lip. “Don’t tell anyone, but I actually don’t like Meghan...I’m not fond of children in general. Meghan’s also more scary than the average two year old.”

Owen chuckled. “She is intimidating, she probably gets that from hanging out with Tatiana so much.”

Barb shook her head. “Tatiana’s wonderful, Meghan’s just...something else. Obviously you know how Curt would react if he knew I felt this way, he thinks the absolute best of her.”

“He does, doesn’t he…”

Barb finished with the last of her repairs and stood up. “Any-who, what have you been up to these past four years?”

Owen wasn’t quite sure how honest he wanted to be with Barb, she was a nice girl, but she could be a bit much. “Oh, not much...I just go on missions and try not to die.”

Barb knowingly nodded. “That’s how it always is for you guys. Jeepers am I glad Curt got out of it.” Barb collected some of her tools. “Speaking of Curt, what happened between you two? You use to be this unstoppable duo, Curt and Owen...Cowen!”

Owen laughed. “Cowen? To be quite frank, Curt and I weren’t actually the dream team we appeared to be. There were a lot of fights, he was too reckless and arrogant; I was too much of a bastard. Us falling out was inevitable.”

Barb studied his face. “But Curt’s changed…”

Owen nodded. “I don’t think I have, dear.”

Barb shook her head and scoffed. “Everyone changes over time.”

Owen held back a laugh. “Perhaps you’re right.”

“Did you recently offend Curt?”

“...Why do you ask?”

Barb shrugged. “He was acting funny earlier.”

Owen distracted himself by getting a glass of water. He took a sip and addressed Barb. “Yeah, but I apologized...granted it wasn’t exactly the best apology.”

Barb shook her head. “Boys...maybe try something more than a half-assed apology. You could try a kind gesture? I mean you are stuck living with the guy for the time being.”

“So that means there’s no sign of me going home soon?”

“We can barely track the guy.” Barb looked positively annoyed by the notion.

“Well then, I definitely can do a kind gesture.” 

“Great, because as much as I love Curt, he’s rather unpleasant when he’s moody.”

Owen turned to go but stopped. “How rude of me, I forgot to ask what you’ve been doing these past four years.” Owen swore that they could see Barb’s smile from space.

\--------

Owen’s mind was swimming with all the info she had laid on him. Technology where they could catch the bad guy straight from their desks sounded amazing, it would save a lot of lives. Still, Owen would have to worry about the implications. Secrets would be incredibly easy to unearth. Agents like Curt and Owen could lose their jobs, kids like Meghan would be common knowledge. Owen briefly wondered if that’s how the man knew about Curt and Owen, but that didn’t seem quite right. Barb said that the technology was far from ready to be used. Owen trusted her word, he believed that she just might be the smartest person on this planet. Well, except when it came to her Curt. In Barb’s defense, Curt also really didn’t seem like the type of person to swing that way at first, but if you pay close enough attention to him there were some inconsistencies. Regardless, if Owen was lucky enough, then men like them would be accepted by the time the technology was out. Based on his track record though, he doubted it.

Throughout Barb’s bomb of information, he had been trying to brainstorm what to do for Curt. There wasn’t too much to do in the house, so maybe they could go out of it? Not far, that would risk both of their lives, but possibly just up on the roof. What would they even do on the roof, Owen didn’t want to just sit up there like a bunch of teenagers. Plus, they would have to do something while Meghan was asleep. Owen sat down on his bed with a sigh. Things got a lot more complicated once they took this past sex. He knew Barb only saw this as an apology, but it felt like a lot more to Owen. Curt hadn’t mentioned a word about getting back together, so that isn’t what this was. It felt more like a declaration of love. At the end of the day, Owen always loved Curt, and he was slowly falling in love with the new Curt. He just didn’t want to admit it. Loving Curt didn’t mean dating him, you could love without a relationship. At the moment, that’s all Owen wanted, to love Curt from a safe distance. 

The words distance and love gave Owen an idea. He got up and walked over to his bag. Owen reached in and pulled out something wrapped in a thick cloth. He gingerly unwrapped it, revealing an old, handheld telescope. It was a gift from his mother, Owen brought it with him to all missions in case he had free time to kill. The fact that the telescope was sturdy and Owen kept it in a cloth ensured that it didn’t break. Curt and him could go look at the stars on the roof, Meghan would be asleep by then. It was just romantic and intimate enough for Owen’s cause. All that was left for him to do was to see if Barb could somehow get a bottle of vodka over here. Curt only had drinks with low alcohol percentages in the mini bar. Therefore, vodka should be a pleasant surprise. Owen re-wrapped the telescope and went to give Barb the message. He decided that as long as it all went according to plan, then everything would be alright.

 

\--------  
About a day later, Owen looked behind the mini bar to see that Barb had delivered the vodka. Owen stashed it in his room and wrote a letter to Curt instructing him to meet Owen on the roof at nine P.M. Around five P.M., when Owen had finished working out, he passed Curt in the kitchen. Curt silently studied Owen’s face and Owen merely nodded in response. He headed to his bathroom and showered. The shower didn’t last long, but the warm water was heavenly while it was there. Owen glanced in the mirror and realized that he was letting his stubble get out of control. He shaved and slicked his hair back, which was also getting out of control, but Owen didn’t feel like cutting it just yet. The nicest outfit he had access to was donned, which was just a plain green shirt and pants that he wore when he originally came here. Owen checked the time and realized he was ready two hours early. Which was fine, Owen had expected to be ready way too early, he just had to kill time for the next two hours. He tried to read some poetry, but his damn leg wouldn’t stop bouncing. Everything felt too loud, all of Owen’s senses were awake. He was hyper aware of how fast his heart was beating, which was illogical. Curt clearly liked him enough to have sex with him. Owen wouldn’t even be confessing anything, he was just going to be enjoying a tender moment with Curt and admitting that he cared for him. It clicked for Owen that that was the exact definition of a confession, and if Curt didn’t accept it then he was stuck in this house for a very long time with his confession. At least he wasn’t using the l-word with Curt. “I care about you” is something you could easily say to a friend, love had much more meaningful implications.

Owen checked the time again. “8:45” stared back at him, he had been staring off into space for that long. It was embarrassing, frankly. Owen secured the telescope and vodka bottle in a knap-sack, then made his way over to the window and popped it open. The windows could open from the inside, but not from the outside. He would have to put a stick in it in order to return to his room. Unfortunately, that would leave the house with an easy entrance inside for everyone. Owen decided to just pile a bunch of stuff by the window, as long as Curt and him sat near Owen’s window, they would hear an intruder. He slipped out the window and easily pulled himself onto the roof. Owen chose a spot where the two could slip without falling and wondered how Curt would get up there. Curt probably had a more dignified way to get outside of the house, but after about three years of retirement, could he still pull himself up? Owen suddenly remembered something from when they spent some time together in the gym and decided that, yes, Curt most certainly could pull himself up. 

There was a grunt from the side of the house and then Curt got onto the roof. He looked around until he spotted Owen sitting with a bottle of vodka. Owen gave him a soft smile and held up the bottle. After a glance at Owen’s appearance and the vodka bottle, Curt sighed. 

“Owen, why the hell are you up here, I’m supposed to be hiding you!”

That stung. “What do you mean, we both know why we’re up here.”

Curt avoided looking at Owen. “Yeah, it’s becoming increasingly clear, and I don’t like it.”

This was not how he wanted the night to go at all. “Curt, please, just come here and share a drink with me.”

Curt stiffened. “That is the last thing I want to do, Owen.”

“At least look at me…” Curt ignored him. “Why did you even come up here?”

“I was expecting something different.”

‘Different enough where you were willing to come on the roof?”

“Something more worth my time…”

It all became clear to Owen, after his meltdown, Curt didn’t want anything to do with him. He had held Owen because that’s what Curt did, he comforted people. Owen was a dick, gave some lame apology, and then broke down, of course Curt would be disgusted with him. Owen got it, he had ruined his chances, all there was to do now was to crawl under his covers and hope for a swift death. He stood up, if he could get out of there fast enough, Curt wouldn’t have to see him cry again.

“Goodnight, Curtis.” Owen bee-lined for the side of the roof and jumped to the floor with a thump. As he crawled back into his room, Owen of course knocked over the stack of crap he had set up. “Oh, bloody hell…” He shut the window to his room and flopped on his bed. Owen Carvour was a wanker and he knew it.

\--------  
Curt listened to the slam of Owen’s window and then allowed the silence to wash over him. Curt really didn’t get what Owen’s problem was. He thought they had moved past this game after a few days ago. Optimism had always been one of Curt’s many weaknesses. He made his way over to the bottle of vodka. Curt stared at it for awhile before deciding to keep it. Not for himself, he was not going down that rabbit hole again, but for Tatiana since it seemed high quality. No doubt she could use it, Curt may have retrieved her secrets, but that didn’t mean she was totally safe now. Out of curiosity, Curt grabbed the knapsack and looked inside of it. The knapsack was empty except for a cylinder wrapped in cloth, that for some reason looked familiar to Curt. He unwrapped two of the corners and let out a soft gasp, Owen’s telescope. He brought it with him on most missions but was still anal about it being damaged. To reiterate, Curt didn’t get Owen. What Curt did get was that this wasn’t supposed to be another hookup, Owen wanted to look at the stars with him. The very idea was sappy as shit, but Curt still thought that it was cute and thoughtful. 

“Owen Carvour, you sly bastard…” Maybe this was the sign Curt had been looking for, maybe Owen actually wanted to g-oh fuck, if that was the case then Curt had shot that idea in the foot. He had refused to comply and then told Owen that he wasn’t worth his time. His mom was right, Curt could be a clueless dum-dum. He had originally come up here with the idea to see what Owen wanted. The vodka bottle had just made him antsy.

Curt laid down on the roof and rubbed his forehead, he probably shouldn’t be up here, but he couldn’t bother to care at the moment. The house was extremely isolated anyways, you would have to be specifically looking for it to find it. Regardless, Curt couldn’t wrap his head around why raising Meghan was easier than fixing his relationship with Owen. Meghan was a whole living breathing person that depended solely on Curt, but Owen was a complicated person who was struggling with years of issues. He didn’t see Owen as broken or anything, it was the opposite really, just between being a spy, a man who liked other men, and what happened to his mom, Owen’s mental health didn’t stand a chance. Curt remembered mentioning therapy to Owen a couple times when they were lovers, but Owen brushed him off every time. He would have initially done the same thing if the situation was reversed, but Meghan cleared a lot of things up for Curt. Curt wasn’t perfect by any means, he was just trying to take it day by day.

A part of Curt didn’t even want to pursue a relationship with Owen, he was scared that it would distract from Meghan. The other, bigger part of Curt desperately wanted to regain what he had four years ago and improve it. Besides, Tatiana told him that she believed Owen and him could find a balance where he could still be a good dad for Meghan, and Curt trusted Tatiana more than anyone. She didn’t bullshit you, she may lie for the greater good, but never bullshitting. So that just meant that Curt needed to take that extra step and fix this with Owen. He had a couple ideas, he just wasn’t sure how they would go over. Unfortunately, they were running out of time, so Curt would be going with his gut on this one.

Curt refilled the knapsack and left the roof with it. He went back into the house through the entrance that Tatiana frequented. After securing it, Curt went into the main part of the house and slipped inside of Meghan’s room. Curt watched as the soft lighting from her nightlight hit her face. He knew that everyone thought she looked just like him, all the major features were Curt Mega through and through, but all he could really see was Scarlet. Her curls, the way she smiled, her expressions, they all reaked of Curt’s old partner. Maybe he just saw Scarlet because he couldn’t see himself in this perfect little girl. She could easily grow up to be an amazing spy, he just didn’t want her to. Call him selfish, but Curt wanted Meghan to have a normal life, as normal of life as he could offer her. 

“Honestly, kid...you can do whatever you want. As long as you’re happy and healthy, I’m good.” Curt leaned down and kissed her forehead. Meghan stirred slightly but remained asleep. He hoped Scarlet approved, he knew bits and pieces of what she wanted, but she never laid out the whole plan. She didn’t think she had to. It had hurt, when Scarlet asked Curt to avoid contact, but it’s what had to be done if he was to remain in the spy world. Curt wondered if that meant Owen was supposed to avoid them. That would make sense, Owen certainly wasn’t quitting his job anytime soon, but he would like to think that Scarlet would make an exception for him. She sure had to sit through a fucking slog of Owen stories once he told her his feelings about men. The breakup fucked with him, and Scarlet knew it, she would want him to do this. He still had it better than her, at least Owen wasn’t dead. That’s right, Owen wasn’t dead and he was here with Curt. Everything from four years ago needed to be fixed, and they could do it together. Curt sent one last smile Meghan’s way and walked into his bedroom. He sat down at his desk and started to write. He had work to do.

\--------  
Never had Curt Mega been so intimidated by a door. He ended up not planning anything too fancy, really he just needed to find some common ground with Owen. So, he stayed up for a few extra hours the night before to get all his feelings straight and to make lasagna. Maybe that last bit wasn’t needed, but Curt found that food could be comforting. If things get dicey with Owen, this was Plan B. Besides, it was a better comfort than alcohol. 

Curt was about to knock on the door when he remembered something. Owen had tried to dress up last night, it wasn’t really that formal, but he was lacking in a proper wardrobe at the moment. Would Owen be offended that Curt didn’t dress up? Curt didn’t see the need, bu-he had to stop. This is the same shit he did four years ago. He would always get so nervous about disappointing Owen to the point where he started resenting him for things he didn’t say. Then Curt would hide it under a massive ego that would just piss off Owen. If Curt was going to do this, he was doing it his way. Owen would hopefully just have to accept him. Curt decided that he just needed to go in, while he was still riding this little fit of confidence and Meghan was still napping.

Curt opened the door to reveal a naked Owen, well half-naked. Owen must have just finished showering because he was dripping wet and had a towel around his waist. Curt nearly dropped the crispy lasagna he was holding.

Owen seemed equally shocked. “Mega, what brings you here...with pasta?” He brought the towel closer to him, he looked self-conscious for some reason.

“I wanted to eat you, I mean eat with you…” Curt didn’t know what he was saying, he just wanted to talk with Owen. The content of what he needed to say must be making him nervous.

Owen cleared his throat. “I’m not really hungry, my apologies, Mega.” Owen started to head for his closet, signifying that the conversation had come to its end.

Curt couldn’t just leave again. “That was a lie, sort of. Look Owen, I’m sorry, about last night. I was being a huge asshole to you, that wasn’t right.”

“A mega asshole…” Owen was looking at the floor, but Curt could hear the smile in his voice. 

Curt laughed. “Yeah, I didn’t know what you were planning, and then I saw this and felt awful.” Curt handed Owen the knapsack. Owen accepted it and pulled out his telescope; he smiled at Curt. “You know how I’ve always drank a bit more than I should? It got pretty bad after the breakup, then Scarlet helped me stop until she died. The drinking got really bad after that.”

Owen searched Curt’s face. “But you had Meghan…”

“Part of the reason my mom had to be here, not only could I not raise a child, but I was morning the loss of one of my best friends in one of the worst ways. Eventually, I kicked the habit and I now lightly indulge in beverages with extremely low alcohol percentages. Just seeing something that strong made me feel like I could lose control.” This all seemed like word-vomit to Curt, but it felt good to get out.

Owen sat down on his bed, he patted the spot next to him for Curt to sit down on, Curt set down the lasagna and acquiesced. “Curt, did the break up really hurt you that bad?”

Curt thickly swallowed and nodded. “I knew it was coming, and it needed to happen; but it still hurt, regardless. I really cared about you, in fact I still do.” Owen let out a tiny “oh”. “I’m sorry, by the way, for leaving you hanging and getting you hurt that day.”

“I’m sorry too, I think at that point I was just so paranoid...we were such a mess.”

“We were, but I really liked the good parts.” Curt looked at Owen.

Owen moved slightly closer to Curt. “I did too…”

Curt leaned in slightly before stopping himself. “Owen, there was another reason I turned you down that night. It’s also the same reason why you found me like that with the pudding cup, in the kitchen.” Owen nodded for Curt to continue. “I just feel like you view me as a piece of meat, somebody to have sex with then ignore.”

“Curt, you are so much more than that. You’re kind, funny, charming, resourceful; the list goes on. I was just scared to do anything more than sex, you’ve changed in so many subtle ways that I feel as if I don’t know you. That’s not a bad thing, it just means I have to rediscover Curt Mega.” Curt started taking off his shirt. “What are you doing, love?”

Curt smiled. “Helping you rediscover me.”

Owen cocked his head. “I didn’t mean it literally. Besides, I thought you didn’t want to be a piece of meat.”

“This is different, my boxers are staying on.”

Owen rolled his eyes. “Well that just makes a world of difference, doesn’t it?” He was smiling softly. Curt laid down on Owen’s bed, Owen sighed. “Oh alright, I’ll bite. Just let me put on some boxers myself.” Owen got dressed and laid down next to Curt.

Curt grabbed Owen’s hand and guided it across a scar right above his navel. “I got this one on a mission in Venice. I was kidnapped and lightly tortured.”

Owen rested his head on Curt’s shoulder. “That one above your nipple looks new.”

Curt made a noise of recognition. “Berlin, I got burnt.” Curt saw the look of disbelief on Owen’s face. “I think they were aiming for my nipple, but they missed.”

Owen kissed his chest. “Well thank goodness they missed.”

“You wouldn’t like me if my nipple got burnt?” Curt had a very different l-word in mind, but he held his tongue.

“It’s impossible not to like you, you would be a little less pretty though. Which I can live with, by the way.”

Curt chuckled and looked at Owen’s chest. “There are a lot more scars.” He also looked thinner, but Curt didn’t feel the need to point it out. Not when Curt was the opposite after four years. 

“Well I’m still a spy, it’s a dangerous job.” Owen took Curt’s hand and used one of his fingers to trace each new scar. He seemed determined not to miss a single one, and Curt sure wasn’t going to stop him. Eventually Owen finished and the two just held each other for a beat.

Curt chose to talk first. “There’s cold lasagna.”

Owen laughed. “We’ll get to it, I just want to admire you for awhile.”

“You’re really laying on the compliments.”

Owen softened. “I mean every one of them...I’m upset that I made you feel that way. You’re a beautiful person, Curt Mega, in and out.”

“You’re pretty beautiful too, Owen Carvour.” Owen kissed his neck at that and Curt allowed himself to melt into Owen’s embrace. The two could work out the details of what this relationship was later. Curt felt as if they had all the time in the world, and right now being beautiful to Owen was more than enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cranked this one out a lot faster than I initially expected. Unfortunately, I start school after this weekend, so y'all will have to hang in tight for the last four chapters. I also planned to save Curt's POV for the second to last chapter, but it just felt right here. Thanks for reading, hopefully I'll be back soon.


	9. Sounds Sadistic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When have Curt and Owen ever been able to let a good thing last? Warning because Owen is incredibly self-destructive in this chapter, and Curt's issues with alcohol get briefly mentioned.

Owen Carvour was living in bliss for the first time in awhile. Curt and him weren’t perfect, by any means, but they were comfortable. Curt didn’t have any desire to be overly affectionate in front of his daughter, so the two men shared quick kisses and ass grabs when she wasn’t looking. Coincidentally, Meghan had started to really warm up to Owen; she would constantly try to play pretend with him, but he was usually distracted by training or Curt. Training was also going great, it was like the hole in Owen’s chest had been filled, and he felt like he could truly be a spy again. This had repercussions of course. Sometimes Owen would have too much pent-up energy and push himself too hard, Curt would always be pissed with him on those days. Owen would get extra bitchy and knew he sometimes snapped. Curt would fight right back, but would usually end up as the peacemaker to calm them both down. He appreciated it despite how much it annoyed him. Owen almost forgot that somebody out there could potentially harm them, almost. Currently, Owen and Curt were sparring while Meghan was napping.

Curt lightly jabbed Owen in the side. “Your reaction time has slowed down. I thought I was the retired old man?”

Owen chuckled and tried to get Curt’s hip. “Oh, you are, old boy. You proved that last night…” Curt blushed and looked down, giving Owen his opening. Owen leapt forward and with one jab, Curt was on the ground. “You were saying, love?”

Curt leaned back while panting. “You felt the need to cheat, clearly you were struggling…did you- “

“Curt, I’m not your daughter, you don’t have to mother hen me!”

Curt looked up and glared at him. “No, but if you’re being a dumbass…”

Owen scoffed. “Oh, rich coming from you!”

Curt opened his mouth for another rebuttal, but both men were stopped by the sound of a crash from the upper story of the house. They shared a look before running upstairs. Meghan had somehow left her room and was in Owen’s. Specifically, she was standing over the broken remains of something-Owen’s telescope. Owen went over to survey the damage while Curt scooped up Meghan. The glass inside was completely shattered and it was broken in two, right along where the inscription of his mother’s name was. 

His mother was a small, simple woman. She had worked in a bookshop and married his father when she was 21. They were happy, happy enough for Owen to come along a year later, and his sister three years after that. She tried to make sure that Owen grew up cultured, taking him to as many performances on her days off as she could afford. Emily Carvour thought that little Owen would make a fine actor, but his father thought that wasn’t an honorable enough career. Owen would go on to compromise by becoming an agent for MI6, his parents were proud and appreciated the extra checks he sent them. The checks weren’t enough to help his mother when she got sick...the worst part was that they didn’t even tell Owen how bad it was until the very end. The telescope was his last personal gift from his mother, and now it was gone. 

Curt was kissing Meghan’s head and lightly lecturing her on the dangers of glass, when something inside of Owen snapped at the sight. “Why did you come in here!?”

Meghan stared at her feet. “I wanted to play…”

“Yes, but this was clearly wrapped! You have tons of toys, hell how did you even get in here!?”

Curt stood up and stared at Owen. “Calm down, Carvour! She’s a little girl, she didn’t know any better…”

Owen scoffed. “OH easy for YOU to say!”

Curt narrowed his eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Only that you’re incredibly easy on her. It’s like you’re so scared of becoming like your own dad that you let her do anything!” Before even seeing the look on Curt’s face, Owen knew that he had fucked up. It was purely word vomit, a creation of Owen’s inner demons, and he was tempted to let it hang there.

Curt didn’t give him the chance to decide. “You’re just SO damn miserable that you need to bring everyone else down with you, huh! Just play the villain, and that way you won’t get hurt anymore!”

Owen stepped closer to Curt, they were going into dark territory here, and he was going to swan dive after Curt. “What do you even know about being miserable, you’re not aware of the world around you!”

Curt turned back to Meghan. “Please go to your room, pumpkin.” Meghan scurried out of there.

Owen shook his head. “There’s my fucking point! It’s always Meghan first, and even before her it was Cynthia! There’s always somebody else, huh…”

Curt rubbed his face with his hands. “You’re so damn bipolar! I can never figure out what you want or what you’re currently bitching about! Hell, I don’t even think you can decide what it is!” There was a pregnant pause as the two men let the weight of everything said sink in.

Owen humorlessly chuckled. “You’re right, but I think that I’ve finally decided on what I want between us...I don’t want anything. Clearly, I am not good enough for the great Curt Mega! Hell, I’m so worthless he nearly left me for dead!” Owen punctuated this by flinging his arms wide open. “And now his child went and destroyed my last keepsake from my mother, fitting if you think about it.”

Curt growled. “Leave my fucking daughter out of this...this is your fight with me, not her!” 

“She’s part of the problem here, Curt! I think you should leave. This conversation is over.”

Curt rushed out of the room. “Fuck you, Owen Carvour.”

Owen shut the door behind Curt and slid down behind it. “Fuck you too…” Tatiana had probably guessed that this would happen. It was practically guaranteed that the two would tear each other to pieces, given the chance. Well, Curt would never instigate it. No, clearly Owen would, since he seemed so keen on being the monster in his life. Yelling at a little girl, turning on the man he loved...he still loved Curt. He didn’t deserve Curt though, he only ever brought him pain. Curt Mega who didn’t have a father, lost his best friend, and had to raise her child all on his own while battling an alcohol addiction. Sweet Curt who was a dumbass, but loyal to the end. Curt who wasted so much time and love on Owen. Owen was the fucking moron, and he didn’t know how to fix it. His mother was definitely disappointed now, because her son wasn’t even pretending to be this horrible, he just sort of was.

\---------

A week had passed, and Owen really hadn’t left his room. Sure, he got hungry sometimes or went to use the restroom, but it was always at random hours when Curt should be busy. For once Owen wasn’t avoiding him due to anger or pettiness, it was shame. He was holding Curt up to this high standard, when in reality? Owen himself was an asshole, quick to distrust people and keep them at arm's length. He didn’t think that he had always been this cruel, maybe it was a side effect from killing others. Perhaps he just felt scorned by the world because he was so out of place in it. So, Owen was hiding from him. Even as a boy, Owen struggled with apologizing, and he certainly hadn’t gone through enough emotional development as a spy to be better at it now. 

As Owen prepared for another day of self-loathing and moping around, he noticed something next to him on the bed. It was a simple piece of paper, folded into some kind of monster. It had a big head, possibly a mane, and narrow legs that squared at the bottom, hooves perhaps. He wasn’t sure what was up with it’s tail, it seemed to have a second head, kind of like a snake was stapled to the back of this creature. The name of the creature dawned on Owen, a chimera. Why would Curt leave him origami of a mythical beast? Scratch that, Curt wouldn’t have been able to fold the perfect creases, and he doubted that Meghan could either. Tatiana would just show up herself, and Barb wouldn’t leave something so physical. Possibly Cynthia, but she would send Susan or a guard. Nobody from his government did shit like this, and they weren’t supposed to have any contact with Owen. He truly had no clue who this was from, and that scared him more than anything.

The lack of this note’s source aside, what was he supposed to do with it? Owen turned it over in his hands a few times before seeing the faintest hint of writing underneath one of the leg flaps. He carefully unfolded it until a full note was exposed. It was just a standard letter, black ink on white paper, but there were pinkish spots littering the paper. As Owen proceeded to read the letter, he suddenly understood the very human source of those spots. By the time he had finished, he thought that he might throw up despite the emptiness of his stomach. There was only one thought in Owen’s mind: Find Curt.

Curt could be found sitting on the sofa, digging into a bowl of jello while reading a collection of Edgar Allen Poe stories. Owen ran up to him and dropped down in order to be eye level with him. “Curt…” The other man merely grunted in response. “Curt...please, you have every right to ship me off to Cynthia, but I need you to read this first...for Meghan’s sake.”

Curt set down his book and spoon to grab the letter. Owen noticed that Curt looked like...shit, to be frank. He knew that he personally didn’t look better, but the fact that his words affected Curt this much really felt like a bunch in the gut. Curt’s eyes quickly scanned over the words until they caught a certain grouping of words. He started to read more carefully, getting visibly more upset as the letter continued. When he finished, all he said was “What the fuck is a chimera?”

Curt’s words were cheap though, because Owen saw that he was on the verge of tears. Owen carefully grabbed Curt’s hand and squeezed it. “We won’t let any of it happen, ok?”

Curt looked at Owen. “How, we don’t know where these fuckers are based or how they even got in? Hell, how did they know all of that!?” 

Owen sighed and squeezed Curt’s hand again. “I think that’s what the agencies have been trying to figure out...wait, where’s Meghan?”

Curt quickly got up, disconnecting their hands. “In her room, napping…” Curt rushed to her room, Owen hot on his tail. The two busted into the room to find Meghan peacefully sleeping. Curt scooped her up, and Owen pretended to not notice the other man softly crying.

Owen eventually decided to interrupt the moment. “Are there cameras?”

Curt sniffed. “Yeah, but considering how allusive they’ve been, they probably avoided them...unless-” Curt balanced Meghan on his shoulder and fiddled with the communicator Barb set him up with. After a few moments, Barb’s voice could be heard over the line.

“Curt, what’s going on? I haven’t heard from you in da-”

“Barb, I need you to check the extra cameras you installed. The really, _really_ hidden ones.”

“On it already...yeah, somebody was definitely just at the house an hour ago...is that a swastika?”

“Ok, Barb? This is going to sound crazy, but we just received a note from an organization called Chimera that somehow knows... _very_ private things. For example, the fact that Meghan exists.”

There was a pregnant pause on the other end. “Jeepers, they’re who we’ve been trying to hide Owen from. So before we thought that they just had some double agents with them, but recently I’ve been theorizing that they had this new technology that’s a mass surveillance system essentially. Except that wouldn’t be enough for all of this, so they have that new technology PLUS DOUBLE AGENTS!”

Owen chose to finally speak up. “Wouldn’t that technology mean that nobody would have secrets?”

“Well yeah, but think of all the good it could do! We could save the world from our desks, you guys wouldn’t have to get hurt so much!” When Barb phrased it like that, it didn’t sound that bad, but secrets were important.

Curt looked down at Meghan for a moment before deciding on something. “Barb, is there some way that you can track them from the footage?”

“I can try, but what should I do Curt? I don’t really have a plausible way to explain this to the agency without exposing...her.”

Curt locked his eyes with Owen’s. “We’re going in without the agency. We don’t have that kind of time. Speaking of which, can you ask Tatiana to get over here asap? I need her to take Meghan to my mom’s safe house.”

“Curt, you two can’t! Nobody’s been able to properly bring these guys down!”

Owen nodded. “Curt, I’m inclined to agree with her. The agency is definitely going to take too long, but you’ve been retired for three years. I can go by myself, stay with your daughter.”

Curt stepped forward. “Owen, that’s suicide. We need to do this together! Besides, I’ve clearly proven that I’m still competent!”

“Well, maybe you need to be a little more than competent…”

“Owen...she’s my daughter. I need to do this.”

Owen and Curt were locked in a silent staring match until Barb interrupted them. “Boys, I have their location, and Tatiana has been called. Do I call the agency too?”

Owen hesitantly nodded, and Curt softly smiled. “We’re going in just the two of us, with your help of course.”

Barb sighed. “You’re so lucky I managed to get some kind of internal blueprint. What is the plan here?”

“Capture the ringleader who threatened my family, and then we blow the place up.”

“That sounds about right. Tatiana’s eta is 30 minutes, so take care of whatever you need to. Call me once you leave.”

Owen suddenly realized a flaw in Curt’s airtight plan. “Wait, how are we supposed to get there?”

Barb laughed. “Don’t worry, Curt has that already taken care of. I’ll talk to you in a bit, agents.” With that, Barb hung up.

A silence hung in the air, and Owen chose to break it first. “So, we have a lot to talk about, but we should probably get dressed first.”

Curt nodded. “Get changed and meet me downstairs?”

“Yes, love.”

The two men broke apart as Owen headed to his room, he quickly changed and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked like a rat, if he was to be honest, but they didn’t have enough time for a shower. He could afford to eat something in order to have strength for the mission. Owen went over to the fridge and was surprised to find it packed. There was everything from sandwiches to fully cooked birds tucked in there. Owen grabbed what looked like something of the tuna variety. 

Owen jogged down the stairs and found Curt dressed in his old spying outfit while rubbing Meghan’s face with his thumb. He looked so peaceful that Owen didn’t want to disturb him, but they had shit to take care of. He sat next to Curt and carefully unwrapped the sandwich. “Was it easy, to fall in love with Meghan?”

Curt sat there and seemed to ponder it for a bit. “I mean, I loved her mom. Meghan just felt like an extension of her. I already lost her mom, so I refuse for anything to happen to her.”

Owen swallowed the chunk of sandwich that was in his mouth. Curt has said it with such conviction and passion, that Owen had no choice but to believe him. It made Owen want to be that passionate too. “We won’t let anything happen to her. Despite me losing it, I really do care about her. She’s a great little girl, plus it’s fucked to let anything described in that letter actually happen to any kid or person.”

Curt nodded. “Thank you, for saying that, and for showing me the letter.”

Owen shrugged. “I had to, this organization can destroy us, anyone in fact. Isn’t the point of spying to protect our countries?” Curt made a noise of agreement. Owen let out a little puff of air before saying what he knew had to be said. “Curt, us re-engaging in anything romantic was a big mistake. We’re not good for each other, and I regret letting us hurt each other again. I honestly don’t think I’m good for anyone, but regardless, we’ll always have the memories.” It hurt Owen a lot to say this, he didn’t really mean it. He didn’t regret his feelings for Curt or acting on them, but Owen was fire. Burning everything in his path was inevitable.

Curt opened his mouth like he wanted to interject, but he decided against it. “You’re right, probably. I’m pretty un-date-able, with Meghan at least. Not that this was dating…”

Owen played with his sandwich wrapper. “Not really, no...are you scared about spying again?”

Curt paused again. “I’m scared of Cynthia murdering me when she finds out, but I’m more worried about Meghan’s safety. I mean, I realistically won’t be as good at it, but at least we were sparring for awhile there.” Owen nodded, he hated how awkward everything was, but he couldn’t bring himself to spill his guts. This was for the best for both of them, but they were expected to effectively work together in order to pull this off. How was Owen supposed to fix all the mistakes he had been making since day one in such a short time? Owen was honestly terrified of this mission, and what the aftermath meant for him. He wasn’t given much time to mull it over though, because they heard a thump announcing that Tatiana was here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Like most writers, I took a semester long hibernation, but I'm determined to finish this monster before I go back into hibernation. Sorry that this chapter isn't as long as the last one, but whenever I tried to stretch it, it just felt weird. I spent all of yesterday writing a Christmas story that takes place four years after Chapter 12, the epilogue. Since it's already ready, I'll post it right after the epilogue. Shout out to a good friend of mine for providing the tittle of this chapter when I gave her the rundown of what's going on. Thank you for sticking around, and my sincerest apologies to those who have forgotten what's going on in this story.


	10. It's Time to be a Spy Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Curt and Owen try to stop Chimera once and for all, but when does anything go according to plan?

Owen and Curt had been driving for what felt like hours. Owen truly had no clue how or why Curt had a muscle car stored in the sub-layer of his safehouse, but he was sure grateful for it. Curt even managed a slight smile when he saw Owen’s confusion over the car’s existence, which was a nice change from his somber attitude when he passed Meghan over to Tatiana. The two hadn’t said anything in fear of waking Meghan up, but they said more with their eyes than they could with their voices. She had left with a silent nod, and Curt quickly led Owen to the garage. After thoroughly arming himself and allowing Owen to do the same, Curt pulled a lever that revealed the car and another that opened a hatch to the outside world. The two men wordlessly got in the car, and they were off.

Curt had been following the coordinates Barb sent to them throughout the drive, and it seemed as though he was finally satisfied with their location. He pulled the car behind a secluded area and hopped out. Owen quickly followed and something immediately caught his eye. It was a tall building made entirely of concrete, not unlike the one Curt and him had broken into four years ago. Owen made eye contact with Curt, and Curt’s nod confirmed his suspicions: This was where they would find Chimera. 

From where Owen was standing, he could see at least three guards outside, but he had no clue how many were inside. He turned to Curt once more. “What’s the plan?”

Curt cocked his head. “You know the plan?”

“No, I know. Just, what do you want me to do? What’s the best course of action in this specific moment?”

Curt looked touched in a way. “Oh, well I think we should incapacitate the guards together. I come in from the left, and you take the right.” Owen nodded and the two men did just that. It turned out there was a fourth guard that Owen didn’t initially spot, but Curt quickly took care of him. Owen mouthed a thank you and jogged over to the nearest window. Curt gave him a boost so that Owen could quickly slide in. That brought him to the second story of the building and a guard with a gun pointed at his face. Owen took care of him with a quick tranquilizer dart and lowered some rope down to Curt. Curt climbed in with a grunt.

Owen pulled in the rope and took a look around. He noticed pockets of guards in every corner, most of which had swastikas on their sleeves. It appeared that they were in a den of nazis, and wasn’t that just the cherry on top to this creepy organization. Thankfully, Owen had been studying the blueprint Barb found the whole car ride over, so he had a decent idea of the layout. The most he could do for Curt while the other man was driving was to just provide a fuzzy mental image of the place. 

Owen glanced at the upper stories. “The building has four stories, and I believe the man I ran into last time has an office on the top floor. We should silence him and blow up the building, therefore eliminating one of the heads of the organization and destroying the technology.”

Curt shot him a look. “Wouldn't it be better to keep him around for questioning?”

Owen shook his head. “This isn’t the type of man you can interrogate, plus there won’t be an easy way to explain how we got ahold of him to either agency.” Curt nodded. “Perhaps I take the left this time, and you take the right? Less guards over there for you.”

“How chivalrous.”

Owen managed a soft smile. “The least I can do. I’ll meet you at the top, alright?” All Owen got back was a nod, and then Curt was off. His daughter’s safety was pushing him to act, no doubt. Curt was quickly disposing of the guards, and Owen was doing the same. There was no point in hiding their presence because Chimera knew they would be coming. Sure, it was probably foolish to play into their hand, but Curt and Owen had bigger priorities. 

Eventually both men reached the office, Curt beating Owen by a minute on pure adrenaline alone. Owen allowed Curt to kick the door in; Curt burst into the room with his gun in hand while Owen was covering him from behind. There at the desk was the man with the piercing blue eyes and a gun in his hands. He looked just as Owen remembered, but the air around him seemed more cocky this time. He was definitely pleased by the situation. 

Curt wasted no time. “Who the hell ARE you?”

The man merely leaned back in his chair. “I go by many names, but the one your agency is the most fond of is the Deadliest Man Alive. Bit of an extravagant title, don’t 'cha think, Carvour?”

Curt narrowed his eyes. “You were talking to me.” Owen recognized that voice, it was a voice he hoped that Meghan would never have thrown at her. 

The Deadliest Man Alive merely smiled. “Oh I know, but Carvour’s always preferred the theatrics in life. You’ve always been the simple one.”

That pissed Owen off. “He’s NOT simple.”

The Deadliest Man Alive was eating this up. “Oh, so you’ve managed to grow attached again. I had a feeling that might happen, but what else would you expect for ex-lovers. Oh no need to go so pale you two, your lil secret is safe with me. Although once our not-so-little system is online, it’ll be pretty hard to keep any secrets, really. In fact, I imagine your agencies will crumble once they can no longer feed off of them.”

Curt scoffed. “Your system can’t be that big if it’s contained in one building. I’ve seen birthday parties that require more room!”

The man finally chose to stand up and slowly walked over to Curt. “Well that’s the thing, Mr. Mega. The system expands far beyond this one building. We have compounds everywhere, some as large as small islands. So sure you could kill me and blow the place up, but somebody will just finish what’s already been set into motion. Horrifying, isn’t it?”

Owen felt his stomach drop. He liked to believe that he was pretty effective at sensing when people were lying, and Owen couldn’t detect any fabrications coming from the man. If that was the case, Owen and Curt would only be temporarily delaying the inevitable. Men like them would never be safe. Children like Meghan wouldn’t be able to live normal lives. 

Curt wouldn’t go down without a fight though. “You’re bluffing, there’s no way ruining these headquarters wouldn’t hurt Chimera!”

The Deadliest Man Alive scoffed. “We aren’t like your little agencies! We’re smart enough to know that we have to be independent of one another, unlike the two of you. Always so dependent on the other, it would be a shame if something were to separate the two of you besides yourselves.” With that statement, The Deadliest Man Alive kicked Owen in the chest and sent him into the hall full of guards. Before Owen could recover, the man put his hand on the doorknob and looked to Curt, as if to dare him to abandon him to go for Owen. The last thing Owen heard before the door clicked shut was Curt spitting out the word “fine”.

\----------

Curt had never been more panicked in his life. The night was already pretty crappy thanks to the news that his daughter’s life was severely in danger. In fairness, everything had been crappy after that last fight with Owen. Now they were at the compound, and things had been looking up until this weirdo revealed that the system was much larger than everyone thought it was. If they couldn’t successfully take it down, nobody would ever have secrets. Barb had been listening to their entire exchange in the office, and she kept insisting that she needed to notify the American Secret Service so that they could get reinforcements. Curt had been ignoring her plees, but he realized that in order to keep his daughter a secret, he had to reveal her to Cynthia. So in an attempt to secretly answer Barb, he answered the nut-job in front of him. It made him seem like he was abandoning Owen to his fate in the hallway, but he wouldn’t make the same mistakes he had made four years ago. He liked to think that he had grown too much as a person for that.

The Deadliest Man Alive shut the door with glee and focused in on Curt. “I will admit, Carvour’s always intrigued me more, but you’re still a pretty interesting character yourself. Initially you come off as the typical American spy, when in reality you’re less than that. Just a dumb coward, truly. I pity that poor bastard of yours.”

Curt was beyond pissed off now, but there was one thing he needed to know before he went to save Owen. “Why us? We stopped being the best spies four years ago, and surely other spies have deep dark secrets.”

The man merely shrugged. “I guess you made it personal three years ago. I sure do miss having Miss Slozhno working for us.” Curt’s eyes widened in realization. He remembered intervening in a bomb deal when he met Tatiana, and this man had been the one purchasing the bomb. Things had gotten out of control from that once chance meeting, but it had been a nazi that she was working for. The compound did seem to be crawling with them.

“Wait, I killed Von Nazi! Why the hell do you still have so many working for you?”

“You would be surprised what people are willing to do for the mere satisfaction of praise and pay, Mr. Mega. I will humor you by admitting that losing Von Nazi so early did complicate things.”

Curt paused. “Early? You were planning on killing him!?”

The Deadliest Man Alive rolled his eyes. “Don’t act so high and mighty, Mega! Your partner is getting killed out there as we speak!” As if to punctuate his words, Curt heard a sickening crack from outside the door followed by a cry that sounded way too familiar. He had to help Owen out, fast. Barb chimed in that reinforcements would be there to help them in ten minutes. Curt prayed to a god he didn’t believe in that that would be enough time for his dumb plan. 

“Who said anything about Owen being the one to die?” He quickly shot the gun out of the man’s hand and then aimed for his forehead.

The man lazily held up his hands and sighed. “Killing me won’t stop this or resurrect Carvour. What the ‘ell are you doing, Mega?”

“Proving that I am not a fucking coward.” He shot the Deadliest Man Alive in the head and quickly ran outside to the hallway. 

Owen was in bad shape, and Curt didn’t know how much more he could take. He quickly shot the two men who were currently pummeling Owen and grabbed Owen’s body. Owen was barely conscious, which would hopefully make whatever Curt’s next choice was easier on him. He ran to the window of the Deadliest Man Alive’s office and tossed a flotation device out the window. It inflated, and Curt tried his best to toss Owen’s body onto it. Thankfully, it was huge enough where Owen landed safe and sound. Curt released a sigh of relief and turned around. He was surrounded by nazis from every angle, and they were pissed that the Deadliest Man Alive was dead. Or maybe they remembered what Curt did to their last boss. Knowing Curt’s luck, it was probably a mix of both. 

Curt Mega had certainly been in a number of tricky situations throughout his career as a spy. This situation was definitely one of the trickier ones. Owen seemed to be safe, the Deadliest Man Alive was dead, and he had reinforcements on the way. Unfortunately, he was surrounded, and fully taking down the system would be a real pain in the ass. Regardless, he would have to start with this compound. Curt Mega knew exactly what he would have to do, but his idea was stupid, reckless, and risky. It also might just kill him in the process, but that had always been his style, right? Owen said that Curt’s style was never that bad and despite all of Owen’s shortcomings, Curt trusted Owen’s judgement to a fault. Curt pulled the grenade out of his jacket and hoped that he would make it through this, for Meghan’s sake. That poor girl didn’t need to lose another parent.

All of the nazis suddenly locked eyes on the object in Curt’s hand and at first they didn’t seem to think that he was crazy enough to throw that in the same room he was currently in. He was though. “Sorry folks, this is going to suck.” He pulled the pin from the grenade and tossed it into the doorway before ducking behind the solid mahogany desk. He heard a very loud boom and hoped that Tatiana was right when she said that spies never died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back. I have no excuse for disappearing other than I got a lot of requests for a fanfic in another fandom and I went to work on that instead. Thankfully, I have two of the remaining three chapters already written, so finishing this fanfic doesn't seem impossible. Thank you to the probably five people who have been sticking with this fanfic, and I hope everyone is staying safe in these trying times.


	11. Endings are Bittersweet, Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically Owen trying to fix all of his mistakes, Cynthia trying to hide Curt's illegal ones, and Curt trying to get a handle on the Owen situation.

Owen Carvour was having a very shitty day. The agent poking him certainly wasn’t helping. Owen quickly realized that the agent bothering him was very female and not Curt. He sat up only to realize that his body did not appreciate that in the slightest. He tried to recall what happened; he then remembered the Deadliest Man Alive, Curt’s betrayal, and getting the ever loving shit beat out of him. Owen had started to lose consciousness right when he remembered hearing two gunshots and a familiar pair of arms scooping him up. He couldn’t remember much after that. Now he was here, wherever here was.

A quick look around told Owen that he was seated in a very large flotation device that seemed to have American origins. In fact the pissed female spy that was kneeling in front of him also looked American. The Chimera building to the left of Owen seemed to partially be on fire. Owen opened up his mouth to ask what was going on, but the other agent silenced him with a canteen. Owen hesitantly took a sip after realizing how damn thirsty he was. 

The agent waited till she was satisfied with how much Owen had drank and then introduced herself. “I’m Agent Samson with the American Secret Service. We were sent to help you and Curt Mega after you two disobeyed orders and went after Chimera without even so much as notifying us. Your agency has been updated on the current situation and we’re currently gathering useful information before destroying the compound.”

Owen nodded and looked around. He could see several teams of spies all around the compound trying to do damage control, but somebody was missing. “Where’s Curt?”

Agent Samson sighed. “Curt Mega was immediately sent to a nearby hospital after he set a grenade off in the same room as himself. We don’t have too much information about what went down here, but we’re guessing he did that sometime after throwing you out of the window.” 

So Curt didn’t abandon him. It was a nice thought, and Owen shouldn’t have doubted Curt after everything he learned about him. Now he was just concerned about Curt’s health. “Is he alright?” Owen truly wanted to ask if he could visit Curt, but that would be too suspicious.

Agent Samson stood up and offered her hand to Owen. He gladly took it. “We’re hopeful, but I personally don’t think he’ll survive facing Ms. Houston once he’s conscious enough for that. Worry about yourself, though. You’re pretty beat up, so you’ll have to make your own trip to the hospital before we can send you back to your country.” 

That’s right, Owen was technically no longer in danger. He could return to his normal life and get that cat he thought about. Owen should be happy, but it was bittersweet to leave Barb, Ms. Mega, Meghan, Tatiana, and Curt, especially Curt. At least he left things on a semi-decent note with Curt, but he did need to thank him for coming back for him before he left America. He wondered if everything would be okay with Meghan since Curt would have a lot of explaining to do to Cynthia. Owen couldn’t focus on that for too long since the second Agent Samson led him to the A.S.S’s van, he passed out again. 

\-----------

Owen slowly walked into Curt’s room. Both of them had been admitted to the same hospital, but Owen hadn’t visited Curt till this very moment. In his defense, he had been busy. It turns out that not only did Owen have a broken nose, but he also had a couple broken ribs. He had been dealing with healing and talking to various higher ups from MI6. His boss was disappointed, to say the least, but he was happy that Owen would at least be returning to the UK to do paperwork until he was deemed fit to return to the field. In fact he would be transported back to the safe house today to clear out his things so that he could hop on a plane tomorrow. That probably wasn’t advisable with his condition, but he had already spent almost a month in recovery.

The other reason Owen needed to visit Curt today was that there was a rumor going around that Cynthia would finally be visiting Curt today. One couldn’t discredit any rumor surrounding Cynthia. Curt was finally healed enough to be discharged soon, but Cynthia had waited till now to properly chew him out. Nobody knew why she waited so long, but Cynthia was prone to work in mysterious ways. So Owen needed to properly close the book on him and Curt before Curt was destroyed by Cynthia.

Owen finally reached the side of Curt’s bed and slowly sat down. Curt had been fidgeting with a deck of cards but stopped once he noticed Owen. Curt looked certainly better than the first time Owen had peeked into his room. He had healed significantly in the past month and was sporting some new scars. Owen didn’t know how the idiot managed to survive, but he was grateful.

Owen was debating what to open with when Curt beat him to it. “You took your time…”

Owen rolled his eyes and smiled. He didn’t know what else he expected Curt to focus on. “I don’t know if you’re referring to the fact that it took me a month to see you or my own personal speed in my condition, but it’s a low blow either way.”

Curt tried to sit up a little more. “I heard that you got some broken ribs.”

“On top of a broken nose but that’s neither here nor there. Thank you, for coming back for me…”

Curt smiled and set his hand on the tray in between both men. “I wouldn’t leave you. I had to answer Barb without catching his attention, but I regret not coming to you even sooner. You would probably be more attractive right now if I did.”

Owen lightly flicked Curt’s knuckles before setting his hand on Curt’s. “Now that I know how you truly feel about me, that makes this easier.”

Curt studied Owen’s face, and Owen tried not to let it get to him. “What is ‘this’?”

“A proper goodbye, I guess. I’m stopping by the safehouse before one night in a hotel, and then it’s back to the UK.”

Curt paused for a moment as if to digest that information. “So I probably won’t see you again, huh?”

Owen sighed. “No, probably not but I would worry about what Cynthia’s going to do to you today more than anything.”

Curt winced. “You heard about that?”

“I think everyone has, Curt.”

Curt groaned. “She’s going to kill me on the spot, but maybe I can still find a way to keep Meghan hidden? I knew what I was risking when I allowed Barb to contact the agency, but it’s gross to deal with the repercussions now.”

Owen patted Curt’s hand and stood up. “We all have to face the music eventually, Mega. I’m...glad that I got to meet this new and improved version of you, and I’m sorry that you had to meet this awful version of me. I think I put you through hell, and you deserve better than that. I wish you the best, and I hope you find everything you’re looking for.”

Owen was in the process of heading back to his room when Curt chose to respond. “No need to break up with me twice, Carvour. I get that you’re trying to escape me, but come on.”

Owen paused and turned to smile at Curt. “This is actually the third time, Curt. Believe it or not, I’m really going to miss you.”

It was as Owen was leaving the room that he heard the faint “me too”.

\----------

Curt Mega was very much in love with Owen Carvour. Thoughts of Owen just a hall down had been plaguing Curt for the entire month of his recovery. Mix that with concerned thoughts over Meghan, especially since he missed her third birthday, and he was restless to say the least. Yet, Owen and Curt were both alive while the Deadliest Man Alive was dead, and that was the important thing. He would just have to live with the fact that Owen kept distancing himself from Curt, it was probably for the best anyways. Besides, he should probably try to make himself look more decent for Cynthia.

Cynthia didn’t feel like giving him the chance, because about two hours after Owen left (which Curt definitely didn’t spend fretting about the situations with Owen and Meghan), Cynthia walked in. Walked isn’t the right word, it was more of a glide. That’s what made Cynthia so scary, she was powerful and graceful. 

Before Curt could even open his mouth, Cynthia cut him off by situating herself in the chair Owen had just been in a couple hours ago. She looked Curt over and made a disappointed cluck with her teeth. “Can you ever do anything without fucking it up?” Curt opened his mouth to respond, but Cynthia silenced him with a wave of her hand. “That was rhetorical, Mega. I know the fucking answer. First you and Owen fucked things up four years ago and left me without the best agent from MI6. Next Scarlett came down like manna from heaven only to leave me too. Then you help her have a baby and proceed to leave me for that baby. And when I graciously push your ex-boyfriend back into your life, the two of you probably fucked that up as well and caused a fucking shitshow that I’ve been cleaning up for the past month! That isn’t even addressing the fact that you have a goddess of an ex-KGB spy that you’re hiding from me! How am I supposed to keep covering for you if you keep fucking up my plans!?”

Curt was having a hard time processing what Cynthia just said, he usually did, but this time especially. “Uh, what?”

Cynthia rolled her eyes and fidgeted with her lighter. She was probably itching for a smoke but even she wouldn’t dare to go against the hospital’s policy. “In summation, you are awful at hiding things from me, Mega. Yet I try to humor you by helping you out, only to get bit in the ass.”

Curt was stunned, only to then realize that most of those things benefited Cynthia as well. “Well thank you, but I-I’m still pissed at you! You had Scarlett killed! She just wanted a normal life; we both know that she didn’t get to choose to be a spy!”

Cynthia looked down to her heels. The powerful aura around her seemed to diminish. “Look...Scarlett wasn’t my choice. As much as I try to cover for you, I can’t control everything. I regret how things ended with Agent Davis, but my hands were tied. That’s why I let you leave so easily.” It was hard to recall since Curt had been in a drunken daze for most of the period right after Scarlett’s death, but it did seem oddly easy for him to request retirement. He was still upset about what had happened, but it gave him a new appreciation for what Cynthia did for him.

Curt lightly touched her arm and smiled at her. “Well running an agency can’t be easy, but what happens now?”

Cynthia recoiled from his touch and eyed his hand warily. “Fuck, I can’t even re-recruit you if I wanted to, you’ve gone all soft. To address your second question, you will be going back to your old job but in a new location. The next year or so will be messy while we’re weeding out the rest of Chimera and your current location has been compromised. I was thinking we would send you to Virginia this time. While I know of your daughter, I’ve decided to label her and Tatiana as people of no importance to the rest of the agency. Just the results of a stupid affair. Your daughter’s breeding is impressive for a spy, but for all we know she just might get your stupidity. Oh, please have Miss Lavernor trick out your house with fancy gadgets on one of her days off. She still has a job with us, no thanks to you.”

Curt tried to properly absorb the information vomit she had just thrown at him. It seemed as though everything fit into a neat little package, except for one thing. She would hate him for asking, but it’s not like she wouldn’t yell at him anymore. “What’s happening to Owen?”

She scoffed and checked her watch. “I know he’s had to have already told you, Mega. He’ll go back to his country, probably drop a rank as punishment, and hopefully he’ll willingly work with us again. Oh, and don’t think that you aren’t on probation either. After your little fucking stunt, we have to reassess whether you’re qualified or not to babysit.”

“Oh okay.” Curt didn’t know why he expected Cynthia to tell him anything any different from what Owen had already told him. Blind hope, he guessed.

Cynthia appeared to be visibly uncomfortable with whatever she was about to say next. “Well, are you going to go after him or not, Mega?”

“Excuse me?”

“Look, we both know that if you don’t work things out with Owen then you’ll be sad for the rest of your miserable life. I also can’t think of anyone else that will actually put up with your bullshit.”

Curt had always hated Cynthia’s favoritism. “He isn’t fucking perfect, you know.”

“Of course not, he’s just the perfect spy when his feelings aren’t being compromised by you. I suppose that’s probably what makes him difficult to deal with emotionally, but I doubt you’re the perfect partner. The two of you are perfectly imperfect for one another.”

The amount of stuff Cynthia knew about his personal life was making him more and more uncomfortable. “Well not that it’s any of your business, but Owen made it very clear that he’s done.”

Cynthia stood up and brushed the invisible dust off of her. “Well I know from experience that you are one stubborn pain in the ass, Curt Mega.” She dropped something on the table next to Curt. “Don’t fuck this up for once.” Without so much as a second glance, Cynthia left the hospital room. Curt leaned over and looked at what she had left him. It was a key and a business card for a hotel.

\-----------

If Owen thought the initial card ride to the safehouse was bad, it was nothing compared to the ride from the hospital to the safehouse. His ribs were slowly healing, and the random bumpiness of the country road certainly didn’t help. Owen wanted to cry out in joy once they finally pulled up to the house. Once the agent let Owen inside to collect his things, he was surprised to see that the house wasn’t empty. Even though it had been a month or so since they had been there, he thought that Tatiana would still be guarding Meghan at Ms. Mega’s house. He was instead greeted by Ms. Mega watching Meghan color on the floor.

“Um, hello?”, Owen hesitantly greeted. 

Ms. Mega looked up and smiled. “Oh hello, Owen. I was hoping that you would be Curtis, but I guess he’s still in the hospital.”

Owen nodded. “I do imagine that he’ll be out shortly. So...it’s fine for Meghan to just be here?”

Ms. Mega waved Owen off. “Oh yeah, this nice lady came by and explained that Meghan’s basically a normal kid now. She said that Tatiana was good to go too, but Tatiana had family matters to attend to a while ago. So it’s just been me and lil Meg.” Owen had a sneaking suspicion that this nice lady was Cynthia, but he couldn’t be sure. 

“Well it has been a pleasure to see you again, Ms. Mega. I’m still not feeling all that great, so I think I’m just going to grab my belongings and leave.”

Ms. Mega gave him a hug that was far too tight for his current condition. “The pleasure was all mine. Don’t be a stranger!” Owen was afraid that he didn’t have much of a choice.

He went back to his bedroom and gathered all of his things into a satchel. He hadn’t really come with much and had kept all of his stuff in his one room, so it wasn’t a long process. Owen decided to collect the broken pieces of his mother’s telescope. He doubted that he could find somebody to fix it, but maybe he could repurpose the metal. It felt bittersweet to part with the room Owen had grown so used to, but he did have the memories at least. Owen was about to let the agent know that he was ready to leave when he noticed something.

Meghan had moved outside to the porch, and upon a second glance it seemed that Ms. Mega was talking the ear off of the agent that had driven Owen. He would probably be there for awhile, so Owen might as well go talk to Meghan. Owen sat next to the little girl and glanced down at what she was drawing. It seemed to be the apple orchard up in the nearby mountains. The drawing was pretty good for a three year old.

“You are starin.” Her tiny voice caught Owen off-guard.

“I guess I am. It’s just a really nice drawing, that’s all.”

She nodded as if Owen was repeating information she already knew. “Is Papa comin bak?” It suddenly dawned on Owen how scary it must be to not see your dad for over a month.

“Yes, he’s coming back very soon.” He hoped that he was right. Owen would hate to lie to her in favor of comforting her.

“Are you leavin?” She said it innocently enough, but he could detect some sadness behind her voice. It suddenly occurred to Owen that he hadn’t been the best playmate towards the end of his stay. Once things had patched themselves up with Curt, he had been prone to give Meghan more and more excuses until she just stopped asking. The whole scenario left a bad taste in his mouth.

Owen sighed and softly responded. “Yeah, I have to go back home now. I’m sorry, I just realized that I wasn’t a good guest towards you. I do wish that we could have played pretend more often.”

Meghan stopped coloring and looked straight into Owen’s eyes. It was Curt’s eyes that were staring back at him, and it was incredibly startling. After a minute or so, Meghan must have found what she was looking for because she dropped her gaze and smiled. “You wer, bu we can still be freends.” 

“W-we can?” Meghan nodded and went back to drawing. “Well, thank you.” It hurt that Owen wouldn’t be able to see this little girl again, and that he wouldn’t get to see her grow up. He was still confident that Curt would raise her to be a mini Curt and that she would steal the hearts of everyone she came across. 

The two of them enjoyed each others’ silent company for awhile until Meghan handed him her drawing of the orchard. “For you.”

Owen smiled and carefully folded the drawing to tuck it into his pocket. “Thank you, I’ll keep it forever.” Suddenly he realized that he had missed that little girl’s birthday and that he hadn’t given her a gift. He looked around in his little bag until he found his thankfully clean vest. He handed it to Meghan. “Happy late birthday. Perhaps you can use it when you play pretend?”

Meghan smiled and happily received the gift. She then hugged Owen and whispered a tiny “thank you” into his ear. He would have loved the moment if it still didn’t hurt to be hugged.

Eventually the agent accompanying him managed to break free of Ms. Mega and told Owen it was time to go. He gave one last sad wave to Ms. Mega and Meghan and the two returned the favor. It was painful all around, and Owen almost longed for the days when his time there seemed endless...almost.

\-----------

The room that MI6 chose to buy for Owen was a shitshow to say the least. The sheets looked suspicious, the walls were paper thin, and the roaches seemed to feel more entitled to the room than Owen did. He wasn’t one to usually complain because Owen had been in worse rooms and this was at least a hotel and not a motel. In his current emotional and physical state, he felt a little entitled to grumble though. Hopefully the plane tomorrow would at least be nicer. Yet, the quality of the room didn’t prevent Owen from passing out due to the exhaustion of the day hitting him hard and fast. He was so out of it that he didn’t even realize that Curt was in his room until he was lightly hitting his face. 

Owen woke with a start and immediately punched Curt in the face. “I-Curt?”

Curt was now on the floor gently massaging his face. “Nice punch…”

Owen got out of the bed and stepped over to where Curt was on the floor. “I’m sorry, old habit. What are you doing here, old boy?”

Curt smiled up at him. “Came here for you, obviously.”

Owen prayed to a higher being that he wasn’t blushing right now. This is what he tried to leave behind. “Okay, but how? You should be in a hospital right now a state or two over, I believe.”

Curt shrugged. “Cynthia works in mysterious ways. She left me with a key to your room, a business card, and talked my doctors into releasing me a bit earlier than planned.”

Curt wasn’t wrong, it was impossible to figure out Cynthia’s true motives to most of her actions, but that still left one question. “Curt, why are you here for me? I thought I made it clear in the hospital room-”

Curt quickly cut him off. “You want me to find everything I’m looking for, right? Well, I’m looking for you, Owen Carvour. I have been for the past four years.” Owen opened his mouth to stop Curt, but Curt persisted. “Just listen, I have a whole fucking speech. Since the very first day that you have walked back into my life, you have confused, aroused, and annoyed me. Living in the same house with you was my personal heaven and hell. You had changed, and so had I. Falling in love with you was somehow familiar and new at the same time. And, I know that you have a whole slew of issues; I have mine too. I also have a child now, which is a much bigger change from four years ago. Regardless, I love you, and I want to find a way to make us work. We’ll both probably have to enroll in therapy and get past our dumb issues. That won’t be easy, but we can do it together.”

Owen was at a loss for words. Curt Mega seemed to keep finding new ways to amaze and surprise Owen. He honestly didn’t feel like he deserved it, but after seeing how much it hurt both him and Curt every time he pushed the other man away, maybe it was time for Owen to try a new strategy. “Curt, I love you, and I want to make this work.”

The smile on Curt’s face made all the uncertainty surrounding that statement worth it. Curt was happy, and he, Owen Carvour, was just as happy. That was the important thing, wasn’t it? The thing that made Owen feel so incomplete, what made him suffer as a spy. He needed a source of happiness, and Curt Mega had and always would be that source.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't as thoroughly edited as I like them to be, but it was a monster to write. It's not even that long, but there were a lot of loose threads I had to take care of. This is officially the last chapter of "plot". Now there's just the epilogue and the little Christmas story I wrote that takes place four years after the epilogue.

**Author's Note:**

> There will be future chapters. Also, all future chapters will be longer.  
> Edit:I have now edited this chapter and I apologize to all 37 of you who read this with the awful formatting. This story will improve, just hang in there. Huge thanks for reading.


End file.
